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Jesus Blessing the Children 



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Jesus of Nazareth 



H The Life of Our Lord || 

11 Written for the Children II 

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Copyright, 1914 

Publishing House of the 

Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene 



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JAN -4 1915 



CI.A393138 






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Dedication 

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO ALL CHILDREN, 
AND IS WRITTEN WITH THE ONE PURPOSE OF IN- 
TRODUCING YOU TO JESUS CHRIST, YOUR SAVIOR. 
MAY THE KNOWLEDGE YOU GATHER FROM THIS 
BOOK BE THE BEGINNING OF A DEEPER KNOWL- 
EDGE YOU MAY HAVE BY A PRAYERFUL STUDY OF 
GOD'S HOLY BIBLE. 



Contents 

A Savior Promised 7 

The Promise Fulfilled 11 

Jesus Presented in the Temple 17 

The Arrival of the Wise Men 20 

The Flight Into Egypt 22 

Jesus as a Youth 24 

The Baptism 31 

The Temptation 33 

Early Ministry 39 

In Galilee 46 

The Sabbath Day 54 

Follow Me 59 

The Sermon on the Mount 64 

Lessons by Parables 73 

The Good Shepherd 83 

Jesus on the Sea : 89 

Jesus Feeding the Hungry 96 

Power Over Demons 102 

Giving Sight to the Blind 111 

Raising the Dead 118 

Enemies of Jesus . 126 

To the Feast of the Passover 132 

Gethsemane 141 

The Trial and Sentence 150 

The Crucifixion and Burial 161 

The Resurrection : 167 

The Ascension 178 

"I Stand at the Door and Knock" 185 



That Sweet Story of Old 



I think, when I read that sweet story of old, 

When Jesus was here among men, 
How He called little children as lambs to His fold, 
I should like to have been with Him then. 

I wish that His hands had been placed on my head, 

That His arms had been thrown around me, 
That I might have seen His land look when He said, 
"Let the little ones come unto me." 

Yet still to His footstool in prayer I may go, 

And ask for a share in His love ; 
And if I thus earnestly seek Him below, 

I shall see Him and hear Him above: 

In that beautiful place He has gone to prepare, 

For all who are washed and forgiven ; 
And many dear children are gathering there, 
u For of such is the kingdom of heaven." 

—Mrs. Jemima Luke. 



A SAVIOR PROMISED 

Many, many years ago, when all the world 
was new and man had just begun to live 
upon the earth, God made a promise. 

This promise was made first to Adam and 
Eve in the Garden of Eden, and this is why 
God made it. 

He had placed this holy man and woman, 
whom He had created, in this beautiful gar- 
den, to take care of it. It was a delightful 
place with everything pure and holy around 
them. A clear river of water flowed through 
it, and all kinds of delicious fruits and beau- 
tiful flowers grew in it. There were two trees 
growing in the midst of the garden; one was 
the Tree of Life and the other was the Tree 
of knowledge of good and evil. God told 
Adam that they must not eat of the fruit from 
the Tree of knowledge of good and evil. 
There was plenty of other fruit to eat, so 
they did not need the fruit of this tree; and 
God, for wise reasons, told them not to eat 
of it. 

Rut Adam and Eve disobeyed God. The 
serpent, or Satan, tempted them to eat of the 

7 



8 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

fruit of the forbidden tree, and they ate it; 
and by this one act of disobedience they be- 
came unfit to have fellowship with God. 
They felt a good deal as children do now 
who disobey their parents, and they tried to 
hide away from God. Their souls were filled 
with darkness and sin, and God had to shut 
them out of the beautiful garden. 

Many people today are disobeying God, 
and by their acts of disobedience are lost and 
shut out from God's blessed presence. 

Adam and Eve did just what God told 
them not to do, and ever since that dreadful 
sin of disobeying God, men could not get 
back to God, without a Savior; but when 
God's own Son was willing to be that Savior 
— to leave His home in heaven, come to the 
earth and die for the sins of men — then 
God could forgive sin and take man back in- 
stead of putting him away from Him forever. 

So the promise God made was that the 
world should have a Savior. 

The Bible says that all men have sinned, 
and because of sin all men are lost; and this 
Savior was to show them the way back to 
God, and to die for the sins of the people. 

Years and years passed by, and each gen- 
eration looked for the promised Savior. AH 



A SAVIOR PROMISED 9 

down the ages prophets lived and reassured 
the people of His coming. 

Isaiah said: "For unto us a child is born, 
unto us a son is given, and the government 
shall be upon His shoulder; and his name 
shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the 
Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the 
Prince of Peace." 

Jacob said: 'The sceptre shall not depart 
from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between 
his feet, until Shiloh come." 

Jeremiah said: "Behold, the days come, 
saiih the Lord, that I will raise unto David 
a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign 
and prosper, and shall execute judgment and 
justice in the earth." 

Micah said: "But thou, Bethlehem Eph- 
ratah, though thou be little among the thous- 
ands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come 
forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel." 

God wanted the people to believe that the 
Savior would come, as He wants us to know 
that the Savior has come. They were saved 
through faith in the Promise. We are saved 
through faith in the Promised One. 

When God saw fit to fulfill this promise 
He had made, and send His Son from heaven 
to earth, He sent an angel to a good Jewish 



10 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

woman to tell her that she should have a son 
who was to be this promised Savior. She 
was to be His mother, and God was His father. 

The prophets had called the Son of God 
by many different names, but the angel said: 
"Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall 
save His people from their sins." 

The name of this woman was Mary, and 
she belonged to the tribe of Judah. The name 
of her husband was Joseph, and he was a 
carpenter by trade. They lived ill the little 
city of Nazareth, which is in Galilee. 

About this time the king ordered all the 
Jews to go to their native cities to be enrolled. 
He wanted the name of each Jew so he might 
tax them — have them pay so much money 
at certain times. 

Bethlehem in Judea, about eighty miles 
away, was the native city of Joseph and Mary; 
for they were of the tribe of Judah. So to 
Bethlehem they started. The road was rug- 
ged and hard to travel. We do not know how 
long it took them to make this tiresome jour- 
ney from Nazareth to Bethlehem, but when 
they reached the city they found it filled with 
people who had come from all parts of the 
country to be enrolled, and finding no room 
in the inn, they lodged in a stable. 



THE PROMISE FULFILLED 

That night in this humble place, Jesus the 
Son of God was born, and having no bet- 
ter place to lay Him, Mary "laid Him in a man- 
ger." God had fulfilled His promise, as He 
always does. 

The great and rich people of the earth 
were not thinking anything about the poor 
people in the stable, but in heaven everyone 
was watching. 

This baby just born into the world was 
God's only Son, who came to earth in human 
form to make a way for lost people to get 
back to God. 

He was accustomed to all the splendor of 
heaven. He was used to the close compan- 
ionship of God, and the worship and service 
of the holy angels. 

To be sure they did not abandon Him in 
His earthly life, but He "made Himself of no 
reputation, and took upon Him the form of 
a servant, and was made in the likeness of 
men." (Phil. 2:7.) 

Jesus was willing to do all this, and suf- 
fer all He knew He would have to suffer be- 
ll 



12 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

fore He went back to heaven, because He 
loved us, and wanted to save us from being 
lost so we might live forever in heaven with 
Him. 

And God was willing to have His only Son, 
whom He loved more than your father could 
ever love you, suffer as He knew He would 
suffer, because God loved the people He had 
created, and wanted us to love and obey Him. 
"For God so loved the world, that He gave 
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believ- 
eth in Him should not perish, but have ever- 
lasting life." (John 3:16.) 

God wanted the world to know that this 
baby in Bethlehem was His Son, so He sent 
an angel to a company of shepherds abiding 
in the field, keeping watch over their flock 
by night. 

The sudden appearance of the angel just 
above them, and the glory of the Lord shin- 
ing round about them, frightened the shep- 
herds greatly; but the angel said, "Fear not: 
for, behold, I bring good tidings of great joy, 
which shall be to all people/' 

"For unto you is born this day in the 
city of David a Savior, which is Christ the 
Lord. 

• * • ye shall find the babe wrapped in 



THE PROMISE FULFILLED 15 

swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." 
(Luke 2:10, 12.) 

Suddenly there was with the angel a mul- 
titude of angels praising God and saying, 
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 
peace, good will toward men." 

The angels went back to heaven, leaving 
the astonished shepherds alone with their 
sheep. Then they said to one another, "Let 
us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this 
thing which is come to pass, which the Lord 
hath made known to us" (Luke 2:15). 

Bethlehem was called "the city of David" 
and the shepherds hastened to Bethlehem 
where the angel had told them they would 
find the Savior lying in a manger. There they 
found Him, and Joseph and Mary. 

They told the people what they had seen 
that night and what the angel had said con- 
cerning this child. The people wondered at 
the strange things of which the shepherds 
told them, "But Mary kept all these things, 
and pondered them in her heart." (Luke 
2:19.) 

The shepherds returned to their flock in 
the field, praising God for all things they had 
heard and seen. They knew their promised 
Savior had come. 



16 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

This was one way God had of making 
known the birth of Jesus; but there was still 
another way of calling attention to the birth 
of His Son. 

Some wise men in a far eastern country 
on the night that the shepherds had seen such 
strange things, discovered an unusual star 
of very striking appearance in the heavens. 
These men knew about the promise of God, 
and this star was to them a sign that a Savior 
was born who would be king of the Jews. 

Three of the wise men who had seen the 
star determined to visit Judea, and worship 
this new born king. So they started on the 
long journey, guided by the star. 



JESUS PRESENTED IN THE TEMPLE 

When Jesus was six weeks old Joseph and 
Mary brought Him to the temple in Jeru- 
salem to be presented to the Lord as the Jew- 
ish law required. The oldest son of each 
Jewish family was brought to the Lord at 
that age. 

When a child is presented in the temple, 
the priest taking him in his arms and holding 
him up before the altar, thus dedicated him 
to God. After he was given back to his 
mother, his name was written in a book which 
contained the names of the oldest son in eacJi 
family of the Jews. 

In this way Jesus was dedicated to God. 
Many, many first-born sons were presented 
in the temple, and the priest saw in Jesus 
nothing different from other children who 
had been presented. He was, to the priest, 
simply one of many babies. He did not know 
he was holding in his arms the Savior God 
had promised to His people. 

But while they were in the temple a holy 
man by the name of Simeon was led by the 
Spirit into the temple, and when he saw the 

17 



18 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

child Jesus, he knew at once that this was 
the Savior. 

A promise had been given Simeon that 
he should not die until he had seen the Prom- 
ised One. This good man took Jesus in his 
arms, blessed God and said, "Lord, now lettest 
thou thy servant depart in peace, according 
to thy word. 

"For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 

"Which thou hast prepared before the 
face of all people; 

"A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the 
glory of thy people Israel" (Luke 2:29-32). 

Joseph and Mary, listening to the words 
of Simeon, wondered at the things he said 
about Jesus. 

A holy woman of great age who lived in 
the temple and served God with fastings and 
prayers night and day, came in just then, and, 
seeing Jesus, also said wonderful things about 
Him. 

Thus, to the humble shepherds on the 
hills around Bethlehem and to the wise men 
in the far eastern country and to these two 
holy servants in the temple, did God reveal 
things concerning His Son that could not be re- 
vealed to the wicked king on his throne or to 
the haughty and selfish priest in the temple. 



PRESENTED IN THE TEMPLE 19 

Only humble, obedient people can God 
use in His work. If we would be chosen of 
Him we must be humble and obedient also. 



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THE ARRIVAL OF THE WISE . MEN 

After many days of weary travel from their 
homes in the East, the three wise men en- 
tered the city of Jerusalem. They came in- 
quiring, " Where is He that is born King of 
the Jews? for," they said, "we have seen His 
star in the East, and are come to worship 
Him" (Matt. 2:2). 

When Herod the king had heard these 
things, he was troubled. He feared another 
king might reign over the Jewish people in- 
stead of himself. 

He hastily called all the chief priests and 
scribes of the Jews together, and demanded 
to know where Christ should be born. 

"And they said unto him, In Bethlehem 
of Judea: for thus it is written by the proph- 
et" (Matt. 2:5). 

Herod called the wise men to him and 
talked with them alone. He inquired at what 
time they had first seen the star, then told 
them to go to Bethlehem and search for the 
child and after they had found Him to come 
back to Jerusalem and tell him, so he might 
go and worship Him also. 

20 



ARRIVAL OF THE WISE MEN 21 

The wise men left Jerusalem and the 
same bright star they had seen in the East 
went before them, and stood low over the 
place where the young child was. 

"They rejoiced with exceeding great joy 9 ' 
when they saw the star; and, when it led them 
to the place where they found Jesus and His 
mother, they fell down and worshipped Him 
and gave Him gifts as was their custom in 
coming into the presence of a king. 

This new-born Son of God was worthy 
to receive the worship and gifts of these wise 
men. He is worthy to receive our worship 
and our best gifts. We are to bring ourselves, 
our talents and our love as gifts to Him. We 
are to live each day for Him who came into 
the world that we might be saved. 

When the time came for these wise men 
to return home, God warned them in a dream 
not to go back to Jerusalem, for Herod did not 
intend to worship the child, but to have Him 
put to death. So the wise men returned home 
another way. 

Thus, God who knows the hearts of all, 
can prevent the wicked plans of wicked men 
from being accomplished. 



THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT 

After the departure of the three wise men, 
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph 
in a dream, saying, "Arise, and take the young 
child and- His mother, and flee into Egypt, 
and be thou there until I bring thee word: 
for Herod will seek the young child to destroy 
Him" (Matt. 2:13). 

Joseph obeyed God. He took Mary and 
Jesus and in the night they fled to Egypt. 

God can take good care of people when 
they obey Him, and He knew He could trust 
Joseph or He never would have allowed Jesus 
to become one of his family. 

Herod was very angry when he knew the 
wise men had gone home without coming 
back to Jerusalem, as he had told them to do. 
He sent his soldiers to kill all the children in 
and around Bethlehem from two years and 
under that age. He thought the baby king 
could not escape, for he knew He was not 
over two years old, because he had inquired 
of the wise men when they had first seen 
the star. 

There was "weeping, and great mourn- 

22 



FLIGHT INTO EGYPT 23 

ing" in Bethlehem and the country around 
when the soldiers carried out the commands 
of the wicked king; but the Son of God had 
been carefully guarded by His Heavenly 
Father, and was safe with His earthly parents 
in Egypt. 

God's power is greater than all the power 
of His creatures, and what He plans to do 
that He brings to pass. 

This wicked king Herod died, and after 
his death an angel of the Lord again appeared 
to Joseph in a dream. 

And the angel said, "Arise, and take the 
young child and His mother, and go into the 
land of Israel : for they are dead which sought 
the young child's life." 

Again Joseph obeyed God. He took Mary 
and Jesus and came back into the land of 
Israel. 

He was afraid to live in Bethlehem, for 
he heard that a son of Herod was reigning 
since the death of Herod; and being warned 
of God in a dream, they went back to the city 
of Nazareth — back to the little city nestled 
among the hills of Galilee where Joseph and 
Mary lived when the angel of the Lord first 
appeared to Mary and told her she should 
be the mother of the Son of God. 



JESUS AS A YOUTH 

Jesus spent His boyhood days in Nazareth. 
We have no record that He ever left that 
city after He came into it with Joseph and 
Mary on their return from Egypt, until He 
was twelve years old. 

The Bible says of His early life : "And the 
child grew, waxed strong in spirit, filled with 
wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him" 
(Luke 2:40). 

Jesus grew in stature like any other child, 
but there was one way He did not grow. He 
did not grow proud or selfish or self-willed. 
He was always humble, considerate, and 
obedient. 

He knows all about the trials of child- 
hood and He knows how Satan tries to draw 
us from the paths of righteousness, as He 
was "in all points tempted like as we are, yet 
without sin"; for He was never overcome by 
temptation. 

We need not be overcome by Satan, 
either; for Jesus gives us power to resist the 
tempter. His blood, that was shed for us, can 
so cleanse the heart of every child who has 

24 



JESUS AS A YOUTH 25 

faith and is entirely given up to Him, that 
we may in this world live blameless before 
God: and, although, like Jesus, we will be 
tempted; we can also, like Jesus, sin not. 
Happy is that child who has so given his life 
to God and through the power of Jesus lives 
that kind of a life in this wicked world. 

A Jewish boy in his thirteenth year had 
reached a very important part of his life. He 
was no longer thought of as a boy, but as a 
man. He must now begin to learn a trade, 
and he could now for the first time have a 
part in the temple service, and w 7 as supposed 
to attend all the feasts. 

When Jesus was twelve vears old, or in 
His thirteenth year, He went with His parents 
to Jerusalem to attend the feast of the Pass- 
over. 

At this feast a lamb was offered upon the 
altar in the temple every morning and even- 
ing for the people's sins. This represented 
the death of the Savior for the sins of the 
world. Isaiah, one of the prophets, spoke of 
Jesus as the Lamb of God; and Jesus at this 
Passover feast perhaps began to understand 
His mission in the world as he saw the priests 
sacrificing these lambs morning and evening 



26 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

— that as the Lamb of God He must die for 
the sins of the people. 

After the feast was over, the worshippers, 
who had attended from different parts of the 
country, left Jerusalem and started home in 
companies. Usually there was a great num- 
ber in a company. The men walked together 
as did also the women. 

Joseph and Mary were in the crowd going 
north toward Galilee. They supposed Jesus 
was among them. Joseph probably thought 
He was with the women and children, and 
Mary must have thought He was with Joseph 
and the other men. They had gone a day's 
journey before they discovered that He was 
neither with His father nor with His mother. 
They became anxious and sought for Him 
among their friends and relatives. No one 
had seen anything of Him since starting, and 
they turned back to Jerusalem seeking Him. 

"After three days they found Him in the 
temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, 
both hearing them and asking them ques- 
tions" (Luke 2:46). 

They were amazed to find Him there 
among these learned teachers, and the teach- 
ers themselves were astonished at His knowl- 
edge of the Scriptures. He knew more than 



JESUS AS A YOUTH 29 

they did, and what He knew was the truth 
of God, while many of their teachings were 
false. 

As His mother came near she said, "Son, 
why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy 
father and I have sought thee sorrowing." 

And He said to them, "How is it that ye 
sought me? wist ye not that I must be about 
my Father's business?" 

More and more the Holy Spirit was show- 
ing Jesus His work on earth laid out by God, 
and He counted that work the most important 
of all things. 

He did not want His parents to seek and 
sorrow for Him; but God's work must be 
done, even if it caused suffering to His 
parents. 

He seems to have thought they should 
have known where He was and what He was 
doing. Perhaps He knew that the angel who 
spoke of Him had said He should be called 
the Son of God. So He said to them, "Why 
did you seek for me? Did you not know that 
I must be about my Heavenly Father's work?" 

Together they left the temple and went 
back to Nazareth, Joseph and Mary and Jesus; 
and Jesus was obedient unto them and "in- 



30 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

creased in wisdom and stature, and in favor 
with God and man" (Luke 2:52)/ 

Jesus was really the Savior of Joseph and 
Mary, as He is the Savior of the world, but 
He was obedient to them. He set an example 
for us, showing by His obedience how all 
children should behave toward their parents. 
If we would be like Jesus and pleasing to God, 
we must always be obedient. 

He stayed at His home in Nazareth and 
worked as a carpenter until He was about 
thirty years old. The Jewish law would not 
allow any public preaching from a man under 
that age. Jesus was obedient to the law as 
well as to His parents. 

You should be careful to obey all the 
rules of school and by so doing you have a 
consciousness of following the example of 
Jesus and of your actions being pleasing to 
Him who, looking down from heaven, sees 
everything you do. 



THE BAPTISM 

The Bible says: "There was a man sent from 
God, whose name was John' 9 (John 1:6). 
He was a preacher and he said: "Repent ye: 
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" 
(Matt. 3:2). 

All who confessed their sins and turned 
away from them He baptized in the river Jor- 
dan. Multitudes of people came out from 
Jerusalem and from all parts of Judea to 
hear this strange new prophet and many were 
baptized by Him. 

He was sent by God to prepare the people 
for the coming of Jesus who, as a man, was 
soon to come before them as the promised 
Savior. 

John said of Him: "There cometh one 
mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose 
shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and un- 
loose. 

"I indeed have baptized you with water: 
but He shall baptize vou with the Holy Ghost" 
(Mark 1:7-8). 

John had been told by God that upon 
whom he should see the Spirit descending and 

31 



32 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

remaining, He it was who was the promised 
Savior. 

One day Jesus came to the river Jordan 
to be baptized by John. He was baptized, not 
because He had repented of His sins, for He 
had no sins of which to repent; but He did it 
to fulfill all righteous laws and as an example 
for us. 

As Jesus came out of the water, the heav- 
ens were opened to John and he saw the Spirit 
of God descending like a dove upon Jesus and 
a voice from heaven said, 'This is my beloved 
Son in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17). 

John now knew this was the Son of God : 
the Savior whom God had promised to the man 
and woman in the Garden of Eden; the One 
of whom the prophets had spoken; the One 
of whom he had been saying, "There cometh 
one mightier than I after me, the latchet of 
whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down 
and unloose"; and the One through whom lost 
men might find their way back to God. 



THE TEMPTATION 

There was the light of heaven upon the face 
of Jesus, and joy in His heart as the Holy 
Spirit descended upon Him, and God's voice 
spoke His approval of His Son. 

After the baptism, the Spirit led Jesus 
into the wilderness. He had a great work be- 
fore Him, and He needed to talk with God 
about it. He prayed and fasted. For forty 
days and forty nights He ate nothing and 
after that He was very hungry. 

Satan knew where Jesus was, and he 
knew if he ever had any influence over Him 
it would be now, while His mind was wearv 
and His body weak from hunger. So he pre- 
sented himself before Jesus and said, "If thou 
be the Son of God, command that these stones 
be made bread" (Matt. 4:3). 

Satan always attacks us at our weakest 
point. He knows just how to tempt us, and 
in the time of temptation, if we do not look 
to Jesus and ask for strength from Him, we 
will yield to the temptation and commit sin. 

We cannot in our own strength resist his 
temptation, but Jesus is mightier than Satan, 

33 



34 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

and with a prayer to Him for help He will give 
us such strength that we can say to Satan 
when he tempts us, "Get behind me, Satan, 
for I will have nothing to do with you." The 
Bible says, "Resist the devil and he will flee 
from you." 

So he tempted Jesus and tried to make 
Him believe there was no use to be hungry 
like He was and no use to believe that God 
would supply Him with food. He had already 
fasted forty days and forty nights and now 
"If thou be the Son of God," Satan said, "com- 
mand that these stones be made bread." 

But Jesus would not work a miracle for 
Himself. His miracles were done to make 
people understand the power of God. 

He would not yield to the temptation of 
Satan, and doubt God's power, and willing- 
ness to help Him; but He would trust God to 
supply Him with all things needed^ so He said, 
"It is written man shall not live by bread 
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out 
of the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). 

Satan was beaten, but he tried another 
temptation. He took Jesus to the temple in 
Jerusalem and set Him on a very high place. 
This pinnacle was so high that if any one 
looked down from the top of it he would 



THE TEMPTATION 35 

grow dizzy and his eyes would not be able 
to see the earth below. 

After they reached this high pinnacle 
Satan said to Jesus, "If thou be the Son of 
God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He 
shall give His angels charge concerning thee: 
and in their hands they shall bear thee up, 
lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a 
stone" (Matt. 4:6). 

What a sly temptation this was from 
Satan. It was as much as to say, "If you are 
the Son of God throw yourself down from 
this pinnacle; for the Bible says, and surety 
you believe the Bible, that God will send His 
angels, and they will let you down easy so 
you will not be hurt. If 3^ou do not do this, 
it will show that you do not trust God and 
you are afraid to cast yourself down lest God 
will not send the angels to bear you up." 

Jesus knew that God would bear Him up 
if it were God's will that He cast Himself 
down; but God had not commanded Him to 
throw Himself from the pinnacle and He 
would not do it just to please Satan. So He 
said, "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt 
the Lord thy God" (Matt. 4:7). 

When you are tempted with such a temp- 
tation: when you are dared to do something 



36 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

that is rash, remember that God does not 
promise to give His angels charge over you 
when you are not doing the will of God, but 
only when you are walking in His ways and 
obeying Him, and not obeying the ones who 
are tempting you. 

Remember that Jesus would not please 
Satan, by casting Himself down, for God had 
not told Him to do so. 

That was the second temptation, and 
Satan had failed in them both. If he could 
only induce Jesus to disobey the will of God 
and sin, the world would yet have no Savior, 
and man would still be lost and the reign of 
Satan would continue; so he tried once more. 

He took Jesus "up into an exceeding high 
mountain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms 
of the world, and the glory of them." 

Then he said unto Him, "All these things 
will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and 
worship me" (Matt. 4:9). 

Jesus came from heaven to earth to die 
for our sins, and He loved us too much to 
ever forget the work He had come to do. He 
would not leave us without a Savior, and leave 
us in the hands of Satan; and not for anything 
would Jesus ever worship anyone but God. 

So He said to the tempter, "Get thee 



THE TEMPTATION 37 

hence, Satan : for it is written, Thou shalt wor- 
ship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt 
thou serve" (Matt. 4:10). 

Angels in heaven were as eagerly look- 
ing down upon this scene as in the little town 
of Bethlehem the night that Jesus was born 
into the world some thirty years before. They 
watched His combat with Satan, eager to 
hasten down to His relief whenever God 
should give command. 

But Jesus must meet and conquer these 
temptations alone. He must show Himself 
stronger than Satan. He must overcome the 
world. 

When He refused to worship Satan, the 
devil left Him, and the courts of heaven rang 
with praises of the Son of God. And God gave 
the word and angels came comforting Him 
and supplying Him with everything He 
needed. It was a glorious vicknw over Satan, 
and Jesus was the conqueror. 

You may have, through the power of 
God, just such splendid victories. If you have 
chosen to be on the side of Jesus, Satan will 
be sure to tempt you. He tempted Jesus and 
of course he will tempt you. If you fall un- 
der his temptation, and do what you know is 
not right, then you have gone over on his side. 



38 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

He has conquered you, and you are weaker 
than you were before and not so able to resist 
his next temptation. 

Follow the example of Jesus and resist 
each one of Satan's temptations as he presents 
them to you. After you have conquered the 
first one, then you will be stronger and more 
able to resist the next one. 

Choose to be on the side of Jesus as you 
go through this life. Choose now, while you 
are young, and let not Satan have any power 
or control over you. Always be true to God 
and you will find He will give you strength 
to meet every temptation of the Evil One. 



EARLY MINISTRY 

When the forty days in the wilderness were 
ended Jesus was led of the Spirit back to 
the Jordan, where John was baptizing. John 
saw Jesus coming and he said, "Behold the 
Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of 
the world" (John 1:29). 

The next day John was. standing with two 
of his disciples looking upon Jesus as He 
walked and he said again, "Behold the Lamb 
of God." 

These two disciples who had heard John 
say this, followed Jesus. The name of one 
was Andrew and the name of the other was 
John. They were fishermen. 

To tell the difference between John who 
was baptizing the people, and John the dis- 
ciple, we speak of the former as John the 
Baptist. 

Andrew soon found his brother Simon, 
fwhoim Jesus soon after named Peter, and 
told him they had found the Savior. Peter 
followed Jesus also. 

On their way to Galilee they saw Philip 
and Jesus said to him, "follow me." We do 

39 



40 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

not know much about the life of Philip, but 
we know he followed Jesus when He called 
him, and then found his brother Nathanael 
and told him they had found the one of whom 
the prophets wrote. Nathanael also followed 
Him. 

Jesus, in company with this little group 
of disciples, now began the work for which 
He was sent into the world. His life before 
this time had been years of preparation for 
the work. 

They came into a town in Galilee called 
Cana. It was about four miles from Naza- 
reth. Here was being held a marriage feast 
and Jesus and His disciples were invited. 
His mother was there, too. 

Before the feast was over they discovered 
they had not wine enough. Then Mary said 
to Jesus, "They have no wine." 

There were six great water jars standing 
by, and Jesus told the servants to fill them 
with water. So they filled them to the brim. 
Then He told the servants to pour out some 
of what they had poured in and carry it to 
the chief person there. 

Instead of water, there came forth wine, 
and the man to whom it had been carried, 
not knowing anything about the miracle of 



EARLY MINISTRY 41 

Jesus, said to the bridegroom that most people 
began their feast with their best wine, but that 
here the best had been kept for the last. 

This wine that Jesus made would not 
cause drunkenness, for it was but the pure, 
sweet juice of the grape. God forbids the use 
of any wine that will intoxicate, or hurt the 
body. 

This was the first miracle Jesus did. He 
and His disciples then went from Cana to 
Capernaum; but they did not stay very long, 
for it was the time of year when the Jewish 
people held their Passover feast in Jerusalem, 
and they went to attend it. 

Several davs before the feast thousands 
of Jews began traveling toward Jerusalem, 
so as to be there at the beginning of the feast. 

This was the first Passover Jesus had cel- 
ebrated since His baptism. When He reached 
the temple He noticed great confusion in the 
outer court. Sheep were bleating, cattle were 
lowing, doves were cooing, and the people 
were buying and selling in the temple of God, 

Jesus took small cords, and, twisting 
them together, drove out all these people and 
the oxen and the cattle and threw the tables 
over where the piles of money were placed, 
and He said to them that sold doves, "Take 



42 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

these things hence; make not my Father's 
house an house of merchandise." 

After the temple was cleared, the people 
in great crowds gathered about Jesus, won- 
dering who this could be who had such au- 
thority over the people. He did several mira- 
cles and many believed He was the promised 
Messiah. 

Nicodemus, one of the rulers, came to 
Jesus by night, probably to inquire about the 
Savior's kingdom, which the Jews thought He 
would set up in Jerusalem. 

The disciples once talked about this king- 
dom among themselves and wondered who 
would be the greatest in it, and Jesus had said 
to them, "Except ye be converted and become 
as little children, ye shall not enter into the 
kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:3). 

He told Nicodemus the same thing: told 
him he must be converted or he would never 
enter into the kingdom of God. 

We learned that through the sin of Adam 
and Eve every one born into the world was 
lost from God, but everyone can come back 
to God now, since Jesus was willing to die 
for our sins, if we turn away from our sins 
and believe Jesus saves us. 

Then you are converted and your heart 



EARLY MINISTRY 43 

is changed. You hate sin and you want to do 
God's will. You love His ways and His words 
and you are on His side. Such a change will 
come over you that you will know God has 
accepted you. Then it is that Satan tempts 
you most, and tries to get you back, but if 
you remember how Jesus conquered him in 
the wilderness then you will know that He 
will help you to conquer him, and you need 
never go back. 

While we are on God's side, He gives us 
a happy, loving, and obedient spirit and 
heaven forever after death. But when we 
are on the side of Satan he has nothing to 
offer us but an unhappy, disagreeable, stub- 
born spirit and everlasting torment after 
death. 

Even a man like Nicodemus did not know 
these things until Jesus told him, because 
they were not teaching the truth in the tem- 
ple and in the synagogues. They were teach- 
ing about washings of the body, tithes of their 
property, the kind of wood to be burned on 
the altar and other like things. 

But Jesus says we must be changed, if 
we are to belong to the kingdom of God, and 
this is brought about by faith in Jesus and 
turning away from our sins. 



44 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Leaving Jerusalem, Jesus preached in the 
towns and cities of Judea, and from there He 
started back to Galilee. On the way He passed 
through the country of Samaria, and, being 
very w T eary with His journey, He sat down 
on the well of Jacob. 

While His disciples had gone to the city 
to buy food a Samaritan woman came to the 
well to draw water, and Jesus said to her, 
"Give me to drink." 

She was very much surprised, for she 
knew how the Jews hated the Samaritans. He 
told her if she would ask of Him, He would 
give her living water. He meant He would 
give her the Spirit of God. 

This woman had disobeved God, but 
Jesus told her if she would forsake her sins 
God would receive her and she would be born 
of the Spirit. She would be changed. 

She believed He was the Savior, and, 
going back to the city, told the people whom 
she had found. Many came to Him, begging 
Him to stay with them awhile, and He stayed 
two days. The people believed on Him and 
said they knew He was the Christ, the Savior 
of the world. 

Many people were saved because this 
woman, when she had found Jesus, brought 



EARLY MINISTRY 45 

others to Him. This is a lesson for us. When 
we have found the Savior who has taken 
away our sins, we should tell others, that He 
may take away their sins, too. 



IN GALILEE 

i 

Jesus came into Galilee again, and the people 
were glad to see Him, for many of them 
had been at the feast in Jerusalem when He 
cleansed the temple and they had seen His 
miracles. 

When He reached Cana, the little town 
where He had made the water wine, a certain 
nobleman who lived twenty miles away came 
to Him and asked Him to go down to Caper- 
naum and heal his son, who was dying. 

Jesus said, "Go thy way; thy son liveth." 
The nobleman believed, and, on going home, 
found that the fever had left the child the very 
hour that Jesus had spoken to Him in Cana. 

Soon He came to Nazareth. His old home. 
There in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. 
among His old friends and neighbors, He de- 
clared He was the promised Messiah. 

The people wondered at the gracious 
words which proceeded out of His mouth, but 
because He would not show them miracles 
they became very angry, rose from their seats, 
and took Him to the brow of the hill, intend- 

46 



IN GALILEE 47 

ing to cast Him down. But He passed through 
the midst of them and went on His way. 

He had been rejected first at the very 
place where He had spent most of His life. 

Don't be discouraged if your friends and 
neighbors turn against you when you choose 
to be on God's side instead of on the side of 
Satan. Remember that Jesus had the same 
trial and He says, "The servant is not greater 
than his lord" (John 15:20). He also says, 
"He that endureth to the end shall be saved" 
(Matt. 10:22). 

Jesus had gone to Capernaum and when 
the Sabbath days came He entered the syna- 
gogue and taught the people. "They ^yere as- 
tonished at His doctrine: for His word was 
with power" (Luke 4:32). 

There was a man there who had an un- 
clean spirit, and this spirit cried right out that 
Jesus was "the Holy One of God." Jesus heard 
him and commanded him to come out of the 
man. The spirit immediately obeyed and the 
people were amazed and said among them- 
selves, "with authority and power He com- 
mandeth the unclean spirits and they come 
out." 

Leaving the synagogue, He went with His 
disciples to Peter's house. There they found 



48 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Peter's wife's mother sick with fever. They 
told Jesus about it, and going into the room, 
He stood over her and rebuked the fever. She 
became well immediately and ministered unto 
them. 

The people were greatly astonished at the 
power of Jesus and they brought all sick peo- 
ple to Him. "He laid His hands on everyone 
of them, and healed them." 

And devils also came out of many, crying 
out and saying, "Thou art Christ, the Son of 
God. And He, rebuking them, suffered them 
not to speak: for they knew that He was 
Christ" (Luke 4:41). 

The ones who had been brought to Jesus 
by others did not need help going home for 
the blind could see, the sick could walk, and 
the dumb could speak. How they must have 
praised God for their release. How we rejoice 
when Jesus releases us from the power of 
Satan. 

Some time after this Jesus was preaching 
in the house of Peter. People were crowded 
around Him. All the rooms were full and, no 
doubt, people were standing in the street to 
hear, and wishing there was room inside. 

Four men came along the street carrying 
a bed, or mat, and on the bed lay a man sick 



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HEALING THE PALSIED MAN 



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IN GALILEE 51 

of the palsy. They were bringing him to 
Jesus to be healed. After trying in vain to get 
through the crowd, they carried the bed up 
the stairway, which was on the outside of the 
house, and onto the roof. Here they lifted 
up the tiles, until they had made a place large 
enough for the bed to pass through, and then 
they gently lowered it right down before 
Jesus. 

Jesus saw the faith of these men, and He 
said to the one who was sick, "Man, thy sins 
are forgiven thee." And again He said, "Arise 
and take up thy couch and go unto thine 
house." 

"And immediately he rose up before 
them, and took up that whereon he lay, and 
departed to his own house, glorifying God" 
(Luke 5:25). 

Everybody was surprised to see this man 
well and able to carry his bed, and they 
praised God, for they knew no one else had 
such power. They were filled with fear, and 
they said, "We have seen strange things to- 
day." 

Jesus has such power now. He is able to 
cure the hardest case. He sometimes heals the 
body, but He considers the healing of the soul 
of far greater importance. If we could see 



52 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

the men and women and children who have 
come to Jesus today and had their sins for- 
given and the wicked desires of their hearts 
taken away, and the thirst for drink gone, and 
temper and pride destroyed, just at the com- 
mand of Jesus, we would say as these people 
of old did, 'We have seen strange things 
today." 

There was to be a feast of the Jews and 
Jesus went to Jerusalem, where it was to be 
held. In a certain part of this city was a pool 
of water, and they called it Bethesda. 

At a certain season the water was troubled 
and the people believed that whoever was 
the first to step into the water after it was 
troubled would be healed of whatever disease 
he had. 

There were five porches around the pool, 
and in these lay people with different kinds of 
diseases waiting for the water to be troubled, 
and each one hoping that he might be the 
first one to get into the water after it was 
troubled. 

One Sabbath day Jesus came down to the 
pool, and saw a great number of sick people 
lying there. Some were blind, some were 
lame, and one poor man had suffered for 
thirty-eight years with some kind of infirmity. 



IN GALILEE 53 

Jesus knew how long he had suffered, 
and His heart was full of pity for him. As 
he stood beside Him, He said to him, "Wilt 
thou be made whole?" 

The man answered, "Sir, I have no man, 
when the water is troubled, to put me into the 
pool: but while I am coming another steppeth 
down before me." 

Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up thy bed 
and walk" (John 5:6-8). 

The man immediately obeyed Jesus, and 
in obeying Him he received strength and was 
made entirely well. 



THE SABBATH DAY 

The Jews had many rules of their own 
for keeping the Sabbath and they wanted 
everyone to obey their rules. Jesus had made 
the Sabbath and He knew how to keep it. The 
Sabbath is to be filled with good works. It is 
a day which we should devote entirely to 
honoring God. "Remember the Sabbath day 
to keep it holy." 

The sick man, in the strength that Jesus 
had given him, rose up, took up the mat on 
which he had lain, and hastened away rejoic- 
ing in his new found strength. 

As he hurried along, some of the Jews 
saw him, and, going up to him, they said, "It 
is the Sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee 
to carry thy bed." 

He told them that the One who had made 
him well had told him to carry his bed. He 
knew that, whoever it was who had healed 
him, he was a good man, and if it was wrong 
for him to carry his bed, this man would not 
have told him to do so. 

They asked him who had made him well, 
but he could not tell them, for Jesus had min- 
gled with the crowd. 54 



THE SABBATH DAY 55 

He knew it was through the mercy of the 
God that he had received strength, so he went 
to the temple to give thanks to God. Many 
people, when God shows mercy to them, for- 
get to thank Him, and instead of turning and 
obeying Him, go on in sin. We should never 
neglect to thank God for the blessings He 
daily gives us. 

After the Jews had discovered that it was 
Jesus who had healed the man, they sought 
to kill Him. More and more did they hate 
Him because He obeyed God's rules and not 
theirs, and they tried every way to find an 
excuse for killing Him. 

Jesus said to them, "My Father worketh 
hitherto, and I work." 

God does not stop His work on Sabbath 
days. The sun still shines, and flowers bloom. 
The grass and grain and fruit keep growing. 
The rivers continue to flow. Rain or snow 
often falls on the earth on Sabbath days, and 
any work that is for the good of man still 
goes on. 

At another time Jesus entered into the 
synagogue on the Sabbath. A man was there 
who had a withered hand. The Jews watched 
Jesus very closely to see if He would heal him 
on the Sabbath day. 



56 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

He knew their thoughts, and He said to 
the man with the withered hand, "Stand 
forth." 

As the man stood beside Him, He turned 
to the Jews and said, "Is it lawful to do good 
on the Sabbath day, or to do evil, to save life 
or to kill? 5 ' The Jews could not answer, for 
they knew it was right to do good on the Sab- 
bath day. 

He looked upon them, and was grieved 
because their hearts were so hard, and He said 
to the man with the withered hand, "Stretch 
forth thine hand, 59 and as he stretched it forth 
it became whole as the other one. 

"Then the Jews took counsel with the 
Herodians how they might destroy Him," 

Again Jesus healed on the Sabbath day. 
This also took place in the synagogue. This 
time it was a woman whom He healed. She 
had been bowed together for eighteen years, 
and could not raise herself up. No doubt she 
had suffered greatly. 

Jesus saw her, and called her to Him. 
That is the way Jesus does. He sees when we 
are in trouble, and helps us out of it if we 
will only let Him. He said to her, "Woman, 
thou art loosed from thine infirmity" (Luke 
13:12). 



THE SABBATH DAY 57 

And He laid His hands on her, and im- 
mediately she raised herself up straight be- 
fore Him, and began praising God. 

The ruler of the synagogue was very in- 
dignant, although almost everybody else was 
very glad, because Jesus had healed this 
woman on the Sabbath day. In angry tones 
he said to the people, "There are six days in 
which men ought to work; in them therefore 
come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath 
day." 

Jesus then answered him and said, 'Thou 
hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the 
Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall 
and lead him away to watering? 

"And ought not this woman, being a 
daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath 
bound, lo these eighteen years, be loosed from 
this bond on the Sabbath day?' 9 (Luke 13: 
15-16). 

And when He had said these things, His 
enemies were ashamed, but all the people 
rejoiced for the glorious things He had 
done. 

Jesus always comes off victorious. So do 
they who trust fully in Him. He never lost a 
battle. He conquered Satan. He triumphed 
over death and today He sits at God's right 



58 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

hand in heaven ruling the world. He lives in 
the hearts of all true followers and helps to 
repel each attack of the Evil One. 



FOLLOW ME 

At this time everybody in the land of Pales- 
tine was hearing of the wonderful teach - 
ings and miracles of Jesus. 

So well known had He become that multi- 
tudes of people followed Him. It was difficult 
for Him to find a time when He could be 
alone. 

Some followed Him because they loved 
Him, and wanted to hear His words; others 
followed to see the miracles He performed; 
and still others followed because they hated 
Him, and watched that they might find some 
fault in Him for which they might accuse 
Him. 

There is only one reason why we should 
follow Jesus. We follow Him because we 
love Him, and want to serve Him, and listen 
to His words. It would be selfish for us to fol- 
low Him for just the good that He would do 
us, but we follow just because we love our 
Savior. 

The Jewish church was wrong because 
it was not teaching the truths of God, but it 
was teaching the sayings of men. Only the 

59 



60 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

blood of Jesus can cleanse our hearts from 
sin. Only His power can keep us from sin- 
ning, but the Jews depended upon their own 
works to save them. 

Jesus wanted to establish God's truths in 
the earth, and He chose men to whom He 
could teach these truths. Some of these very 
men w T ho learned from Him the lessons He 
taught have written them in a Book, which 
has printed on its cover these words — holy 
bible. By reading that Book, we know the 
words of Jesus, and learn that He would have 
us become followers of Him. 

Jesus chose these men with much care. 
He had spent the night in the mountain pray- 
ing to God, and when the day appeared He 
called "unto Him whom He would," and chose 
twelve apostles to learn of Him. Some of the 
ones He chose had been following Him from 
the time He came from the wilderness after 
His battle with Satan. 

He did not choose a single Jewish leader. 
He did not choose these men because they were 
wealthy or educated, but the Son of God chose 
from among all the people of the earth twelve 
humble, common men to be His followers. 
Some were fishermen, and one was a despised 
publican, and all were of humble homes. 



. FOLLOW ME 61 

There were "Simon, who is called Peter, 
and Andrew, his brother; James, the son of 
Zebedee, and John, his brother; 

"Philip, and Bartholomew, Thomas, and 
Matthew, the publican; James, the son of Al- 
phaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was 
Thaddeus; 

"Simon, the Canaanite, and Judas Iscar- 
iot, who also betrayed Him" (Matt. 10:2-4). 

A certain man came to Jesus and said. 
"Master, I will follow thee whithersoever 
Thou goest." This man had probably seen 
the miracles of Jesus, and thought it would be 
easy to follow such a Master. But Jesus does 
not want a disciple who is looking for an easy 
place, for He once said, "Whosoever doth not 
bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be 
my disciple" (Luke 14:27). 

So He said to the scribe, "The foxes have 
holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but 
the Son of man hath not where to lav His 
head" (Matt. 8:20). 

One time Jesus said to a man, "Follow 
me," but the man said, "Suffer me first to go 
and bury my father." Jesus made this man 
understand that there was nothing in the 
world so important as obeying Him. God is 
our Creator and our Savior, and we owe obe- 



62 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

dience to Him first of all. If we obey Him, 
we are sure to be right in everything else. 

At another time a young man came run- 
ning and kneeled down before Jesus and said, 
"Good Master, what good thing shall I do 
that I may have eternal life?" 

Jesus told him to keep the command- 
ments, and he said he had kept them from his 
youth up. 

Jesus then said, "If thou wilt be perfect, 
go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, 
and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and 
come and follow me" (Matt. 19:21). 

But this young man did not follow Him, 
for he did not want to give up the things of 
this world. So "he went away sorrowful : for 
he had great possessions." 

He did not think about the great posses- 
sions in heaven that Jesus had left for his 
sake, and he would not learn the lesson that 
Jesus would have taught him. 

Jesus would have said to him as He says 
to us, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures 
upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt, 
and where thieves break through and steal. 

"But lay up for yourselves treasures in 
heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth cor- 



FOLLOW ME 63 

rupt and where thieves do not break through 
nor steal" (Matt. 6:19-20). 

Some time in the life of everyone comes 
the call to follow Jesus. Not given in the flesh 
as He spoke to His disciples, but when He 
went away He promised that God would send 
another Comforter which is the Holy Ghost: 
and He is in the world today, calling people 
to follow Jesus. Shall not we, like the dis- 
ciples, leave all that is sinful and immediately 
follow Him? Shall not we decide to be a fol- 
lower of Christ instead of a follower of Satan? 



THE SERMON ON THE . MOUNT 

After Jesus had chosen His twelve disciples, 
and while He was yet on the mountain, 
He sat down, as was the custom of teachers 
among the Jews, and taught the great multi- 
tudes of people that had gathered about Him. 
This is what He taught them: 

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs 
is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3). 

Blessed means happy, and Jesus says the 
people who are happy are the ones who have 
chosen to be on God's side and who depend 
upon Him to lead them every step of the way 
through this life. They know they cannot 
live righteous lives in their own strength, so 
they just trust God to guide them. The prom- 
ise is an entrance into heaven. 

"Blessed are they that mourn: for they 
shall be comforted" (Matt. 5:4). 

Happy are they that mourn after God; 
the ones who are sorry for their sins and 
want God to forgive them. When you feel 
like that, then you have the promise of God 
that you shall be comforted, and God always 
keeps His promise. 

64 



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THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 



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I 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 67 

"Blessed are the meek: for they shall in- 
herit the earth" (Matt. 5:5). 

Happy are they who have a quiet spirit; 
not proud and overbearing, but knowing you 
are just like everybody — a creature of God 
— and that you receive all the good things 
you have, as do they, from His hand. When 
you are meek and lowly in heart, the promise 
is you shall inherit the kingdom of God. To 
the Jews "the earth" or "the land" meant the 
land of Canaan, and Canaan was a type of 
the kingdom of God. 

"Blessed are they which do hunger and 
thirst after righteousness; for they shall be 
filled" (Matt. 5:6). 

Our bodies need food and drink to keep 
us alive, and our souls need food just the 
same as our bodies need it. The earth sup- 
plies food for our bodies, and heaven supplies 
the food for our souls. Heavenly things can- 
not satisfy the body: neither can earthly 
things satisfy the soul. When we hunger and 
thirst for a knowledge of God, and to be like 
Him, we have the promise that we shall be 
filled, and He fills us with His Holy Spirit. 

"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall 
obtain mercy" (Matt. 5:7). 

God will not show mercy to people who 



68 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

will not show mercy to others. He will not for- 
give us if we do not forgive others. But we 
have the promise that if we are merciful we 
shall have mercy shown to us. 

"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they 
shall see God" (Matt. 5:8). 

Happy are they who have a clean heart: 
whose thoughts are not evil : whose pride and 
selfishness and temper and all other sins have 
been washed away by the blood of Jesus, for 
they are the ones who shall see God. 

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they 
shall be called the children of God" (Matt. 
5:9). 

Happy are they who delight in peace, in- 
stead of strife, and are doing all they can to 
keep peace, and have things run along smooth- 
ly wherever they may be. They are called the 
children of God. 

"Blessed are they which are persecuted 
for righteousness sake: for theirs is the king- 
dom of heaven" (Matt. 5:10). 

God hates sin in any form, and Satan 
hates righteousness. There is evil in every 
heart that has not turned to God. When once 
we turn to God, Satan in the hearts of others 
who have not turned may make it hard for 
us, for he hates righteousness; but Jesus says 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 69 

that the ones who are persecuted are blessed, 
and it is because we know we are doing the 
will of God, and we have the promise of the 
Kingdom of Heaven. 

"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile 
you, and persecute you, and shall say all man- 
ner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 

"Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for 
great is your reward in heaven: for so perse- 
cuted they the prophets which were before 
you" (Matt. 5:11-12). 

If people say evil things about us, we 
must remember that Jesus suffered for our 
sakes, and we must be willing to suffer for 
Him. We are to rejoice and be glad for our 
reward will be great when we enter into 
heaven. 

Jesus says His followers are "the salt of 
the earth," and "the light of the world." We 
are to be different from the people of the 
world. He says: "Love your enemies, bless 
them that curse you, do good to them that 
hate you, and pray for them which despite- 
fully use you, and persecute you. 

"That ye may be the children of your 
Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His 
sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and 



70 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" 
(Matt. 5:44-45). 

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your 
Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matt. 
5:48). 

When we give to the poor we are not to 
give in order to have people praise us, or have 
them think we are generous, but we give to 
help the needy and to please God without any 
thought of praise from people. God will see 
the gift: "and thy Father which seeth in secret, 
himself shall reward thee openly" (Matt. 6:4). 

When we pray we are to enter into some 
quiet place and talk to God as we would talk 
to a friend. This is the prayer Jesus has 



given us 



"Our father which art in heaven, hal- 
lowed by thy name, 

"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in 
earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our 
daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we 
forgive our debtors. And lead us not into 
temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine 
is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, 
forever, Amen" (Matt. 6:9-13). 

Jesus says we cannot serve two masters. 
We cannot serve Christ and Satan. We must 
either be on one side or the other. On which 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 71 

side are you going to be in this battle of life? 

Jesus says not to be anxious what you 
are going to eat or what you are going to 
drink or what you are going to wear. 

"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow 
not, neither do they reap, nor gather into 
barns; yet your heavenly Father f eedeth them. 
Are ye not much better than they?" (Matt. 
6:26)". 

"And why take ye thought for raiment? 
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, 
they toil not, neither do they spin: 

"And yet I say unto you, That even Solo- 
mon in all his glory was not arrayed like one 
of these. 

"Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of 
the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast 
into the oven, shall he not much more clothe 
you, ye of little faith?" (Matt. 6:28-30). 

We should seek to know God first, and He 
will add all things that we need. 

Jesus had been teaching the people all 
these things and as He closed His sermon He 
said, "Therefore, whosoever heareth these 
sayings and doeth them, I will liken Him unto 
a wise man, which built his house upon a 
rock. 

"And the rain descended and the floods 



72 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

came, and the winds blew and beat upon that 
house; and it fell not: for it was founded 
upon a rock. 

"And everyone that heareth these sayings 
of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened 
unto a foolish man, which built his house 
upon the sand. 

"And the rains descended, and the floods 
came, and the winds blew and beat upon that 
house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it." 

We will be either like the wise man, or 
we will be like the foolish man. 



LESSONS BY PARABLES 

Jesus taught His disciples many lessons by 
using parables. He would tell them some- 
thing they could understand, but back of the 
story He had given them, they would find 
some wonderful lessons. He spoke to the peo- 
ple in parables, too, but they did .not always 
get the lessons He would have them learn, for 
a great many of them did not want to learn 
them. 

Once He told them that a sower of seed 
went out into the field, and, as he took the 
seeds in his hands and scattered them, some 
fell by the wayside or path where people 
walked and the fowls of the air came and ate 
them. 

Some fell on stony places, where they had 
not much earth in which to grow. They im- 
mediately sprung up, but when the sun came 
out they withered away and died because they 
had no root. 

Some fell among thorns: and the thorns 
sprang up with the seeds and choked them. 

But some fell on good ground that had 

73 



74 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

been plowed, and well prepared for them, and 
they brought forth much grain. 

The disciples of Jesus came to Him, and 
asked Him the meaning of this parable. He 
said the seed was the Word of God. 

He spoke of some seed falling by the way- 
side. They are the people whose hearts are 
like the hard soil in the path. They hear the 
Word of God, but pay little attention to it, 
but what good thoughts they have received, 
Satan comes and takes away from them be- 
cause they do not ask God to help them keep 
the good thoughts and help them learn more 
about Him. 

The stony places where the seeds fell, are 
like the hearts of men who hear the words of 
Jesus and at first receive them joyfully, and 
believe in Him, but soon refuse to follow Him 
because the way is not an easy one. 

Some seed fell among thorns. Some peo- 
ple hear the word of God and start to be fol- 
lowers of Jesus, but soon give up being His 
disciples because they care more for the pleas- 
ures and riches of this life than they care for 
Him. They allow these things to keep out 
thoughts about Jesus. Their hearts are like 
the soil which had thorns in it and which kept 
the seeds from growing. 



LESSONS BY PARABLES 75 

But the good ground that was well pre- 
pared for the seed, and which brought forth 
much grain, is like the good hearts of people 
who hear the words of Jesus and remember 
them, and who would rather obey God than 
obey Satan. 

Jesus told the people another parable. 
He said the kingdom of heaven was like a 
man which sowed good seed in his field, and 
while he slept after his day's work, an enemy 
came into the field and sowed tares, which are 
weeds, among the wheat. 

When the wheat grew above the ground 
the tares grew also, and the servants, noticing 
many weeds among the wheat, wondered how 
this could be, knowing that their master had 
sown only good seed. So they went to him 
and said, "Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in 
thy field? from whence then hath it tares?" 
(Matt. 13:27). 

The man guessed correctly and said, "An 
enemy hath done this." The servants asked if 
they should go and weed out the tares, but the 
master said no, for if they rooted out the 
weeds they would be in danger of rooting out 
the wheat also. 

He said he would let them grow together 
until the harvest, then when the wheat was 



76 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

cut by the reaper they would gather out the 
tares, hind them in bundles, and burn them; 
but the wheat would be stored in* his barn. 

After Jesus had spoken to them in para- 
bles, He sent the multitudes away, and, while 
He was alone with His disciples, they asked 
Him the meaning of the parable of the wheat 
and the tares. 

He said he that sowed the good seed was 
Himself; the field is the world; the good seed 
are the people who obey God; the tares are 
the people who obey the wicked one; the 
enemy is Satan; the harvest is the end of the 
world; and the reapers are the angels. 

"As therefore the tares are gathered and 
burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of 
this world" (Matt. 13:40). 

"Then shall the righteous shine forth as 
the sun in the kingdom of their Father" 
(Matt. 13:43). 

One day Jesus told the people a parable 
about a rich man and a beggar. The rich man 
had everything that he wanted. He was al- 
ways well dressed and his dinners every day 
were like a feast. 

At his gate lay a beggar whose body was 
covered with sores which were licked by the 
dogs on the street. He lay there that he might 



LESSONS BY PARABLES 77 

be given enough food from the rich man's 
table to keep him alive. 

One day the beggar died and the angels 
came to earth and carried his spirit to Para- 
dise. 

The rich man died also, but he went to 
the place of the wicked: and, looking away 
off, he saw the beggar in Paradise with Abra- 
ham. He begged Abraham to send the beggar 
to him that he might dip the tip of his finger 
in water, and drop it on his tongue to cool it. 
for he was in great torment. 

But Abraham said, "Son. remember that 
thou in thy lifetime receives! thy good things, 
and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he 
is comforted, and thou art tormented. 

"And, beside all this, between us and you 
there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which 
pass from hence to you cannot: neither can 
thev pass to us. that would come from thence" 
(Luke 16:25-26). 

Then the rich man asked that Lazarus 
might be sent back to the earth to tell his 
five brothers, who were probably living the 
same kind of a life he had lived, about this 
dreadful place that he was in: but Abraham 
told him his brothers could read the Bible 
and find out about it. 



78 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

But the man said that if someone would 
go to them from the dead, they would repent; 
but Abraham knew that if people w r ill not 
read the Bible and believe it, neither will they 
believe what anyone says about God's plans, 
though one rose from the dead to tell them. 
So Lazarus was not sent to earth. 

While he was living, the rich man had as 
good a chance to live a life which would pre- 
pare him for heaven as the beggar did, but 
he chose to spend it in worldly enjoyment in- 
stead of seeking to live a holy life. 

Jesus told another parable, showing that 
a life of selfishness and pleasure will never 
fit anyone for heaven. This was about an- 
other rich man. His ground had brought 
forth so much grain and his fruit trees had 
borne so much fruit that he did not know 
where to put it all. 

This man never thought about God's 
goodness to him, that the only reason he had 
such an abundant crop was because God 
"maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on 
the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on 
the unjust" (Matt. 5:45). 

This man wondered what he would do 
with all his grain, for his barns were not large 
enough to hold it. After some thinking, he 



LESSONS BY PARABLES 79 

decided what he would do. He would pull 
down his old barns and build greater ones. 

Then the thought came to him that now 
he had a great deal of money; enough to last 
him as long as he lived and for the rest of 
his life he would take his ease, "eat, drink, 
and be merry." 

How foolish he was to want to spend his 
life in enjoying himself, when all about him 
were people who needed his help. God would 
have given him a better work to do than that, 
if he had only asked Him to plan his work for 
him. But this man was not thinking about 
God, but wanted to make his own plans, and 
his plan had always been to enjoy himself. 

But in the parable, God is thinking about 
him, and He said to him, "This night thy soul 
shall be required of thee: then whose shall 
those things be, which thou hast provided?" 
(Luke 12:20). 

That very night he died, and no person, 
who lives only to please himself, and thinks 
not of pleasing God, can ever enter heaven. 

Everything we have comes from God, and 
He does not want us to be selfish with the 
things He has given us. If God should cover 
the sun with darkness and not allow it to 
shine upon the earth and keep the rain and 



80 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

snow from falling, nothing could grow in the 
ground, and after a time people would die for 
want of food and water. 

But God loves us and gives, us everything 
we need. He gives us everything to make us 
happy. He has even prepared heaven for us 
after we die, and all He asks us to do is to 
thank Him for all His goodness to us, and to 
love Jesus and obey Him while we live in 
this world. 

One day Jesus was teaching a lesson on 
forgiveness. He said there was a man who 
owed a certain king a great sum of money, 
and the king wanted him to pay the debt. 

They lived in a country where it was law- 
ful for a man and everything he had to be 
sold if he could not pay what money he owed. 

When the king found out that this man 
did not have the money with which to pay 
the debt, he ordered the man and his wife 
and his children and everything he had to 
be sold, and the monejr given to the king. 

When the man heard what the king had 
said, he fell down at the feet of the king and 
begged him not to sell them, but to give him 
a little time, and he promised he would pay 
him everything he owed him. 



LESSONS BY PARABLES 81 

Then the king felt sorry for him and let 
him go and told him he need not pay the 
money at all, for he forgave him the debt. 

What a splendid king he was, to forgive 
the man everything. Do you know that is 
the way the King whom we serve does? We 
go to Him and tell Him of our sins and He 
forgives them all. But after God forgives our 
sins we must not do like this man did, for he 
refused to forgive others. 

He left the king and went to a man who 
owed him a small sum of money, and laid 
hands on him and took him by the throat and 
said to him, "Pay me that thou owest." 

The man fell down at his feet as he him- 
self had fallen at the feet of the king, and 
begged him to give him a little time, and he 
promised he would pay him everything he 
owed him. 

But the man would not let him go as the 
king had done to him, but he put the man 
in prison until he should pay the debt. 

The servants of the king heard what had 
been done, and they came and told the king. 
He called the man to him and told him he was 
a wicked servant. He said he had forgiven 
him because he begged him to forgive him, 



82 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

then he asked if he did not think he should 
have forgiven the man who owed him, and 
was not able to pay. If the king had been 
merciful to him, should he not have been 
merciful to others? 

The king was very much displeased, and 
told the man he would have to pay him all 
the money he had at first owed him. 

Jesus closed the parable by saying, "So 
likewise shall my Heavenly Father do also 
unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not 
everyone his brother their trespasses" (Matt. 
18:35). 

God forgives us, and we must forgive 
others. How can we expect God to forgive 
us if we will not forgive others? Peter asked 
Jesus how often he should forgive his broth- 
ers who had sinned against him. He asked 
if he should forgive him seven times. 

Jesus told Peter he should not only for- 
give him seven times, but he should forgive 
him seventy times seven. It is best not to 
wonder how often you should forgive one, 
but forgive them every time, no matter how 
often that may be. That is what Jesus meant. 



THE GOOD SHEPHERD 

The Savior often spoke of Himself as a shep- 
herd and of the disciples as His sheep. He 
said, "I am the good shepherd, and know my 
sheep, and am known of mine." 

In the land in which Christ lived the shep- 
herd stayed with his flock day and night. 
Through the day he led them over the rocky 
hills and through the forests into green pas- 
tures, and at night he guarded them from wild 
beasts or robbers that might be lurking near. 

Very carefully and tenderly he watched 
the sick and feeble ones, and no matter how 
large his flock he had a name for each sheep 
and each one knew its name. They would 
come at the call of their shepherd, but the 
voice of a stranger they would not follow, but 
would flee from him, for they knew not the 
voice of strangers. 

Jesus says He is our good shepherd and 
He knows His sheep. He knows every one of 
His followers by name. He knows the very 
house in which we live. He knows when w T e 
are sick or in trouble, and He cares for us as 

83 



84 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

carefully and as tenderly as a shepherd would 
care for his sheep. 

Jesus says His sheep know Him. When 
we turn from sin and take Jesus as our shep- 
herd and follow His voice instead of the voice 
of Satan, we will know Him and love Him and 
be glad for a heavenly shepherd who will care- 
fully lead us over all the hard places of life. 

The shepherds always went before the 
sheep and met the dangers first. Sometimes 
they were killed while caring for their flocks. 

Jesus gave His life for His sheep. He died 
for us. He went forth in the world and met 
all the dangers and overcame Satan and all 
his temptations that we who follow might also 
overcome and not yield to the temptings of 
the Evil One. 

The Savior has other sheep besides the 
ones who are safely following Him. Some of 
His flock have gone astray and He is calling 
for them to come back. We were all wander- 
ing from God at one time because of sin in our 
hearts, and we were not of the flock that fol- 
lowed Jesus the good shepherd. But if, when 
we heard His voice, we turned away from sin 
and followed Him, we now belong to His flock. 

But the others: the ones who have gone 
astrav and have not returned. Does Jesus care 




THE GOOD SHEPHERD 



THE GOOD SHEPHERD 87 

that they have wandered from Him and are 
living in sin? Oh, yes, He said when a wan- 
dering one came back to God there would be 
joy among the angels in heaven. 

If a shepherd had a hundred sheep and 
one of them should be lost out on the hills, he 
would leave all the others in the fold and seek 
for the missing one. He could not rest until 
it was found. 

Out in the night and into the storm He 
would go seeking the lost one. No one but 
the shepherd himself would know what waters 
he had crossed nor what steep, slippery places 
he had climbed until he found his shivering, 
bleating sheep and carried it home in his 
arms. He would not complain of his long, 
cold search, but he would joyfully say to his 
friends and his neighbors, "Rejoice with me; 
for I have found my sheep which was lost." 

So will all heaven rejoice over one sinner 
that repenteth and follows Christ the Good 
Shepherd. He is seeking for every unsaved 
one, for He came to seek and to save that 
which is lost. 

There was no complaint in the heart of 
the Savior that the treatment He received on 
earth was so cruel, or that the agony in the 
Garden of Gethsemane was so intense or His 



88 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

death on the cross, so painful; but He gladly 
endured it all that we might be brought back 
to His fold. 

If we have accepted Christ as our Savior 
and are following Him, we can say as did 
David when he wrote the Twenty-third Psalm, 

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want, 

"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: 
he leadeth me beside the still waters. 

"He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the 
paths of righteousness for his name's 
sake. 

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the 
shadow of death, I will fear no evil: 
for thou are with me: thy rod and thy 
staff they comfort me. 

"Thou preparest a table before me in the pres- 
ence of mine enemies: thou anointest 
my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 
all the days of my life: and I will dwell 
in the house of the Lord forever/' 



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JESUS ON THE SEA 

Some of the parables of Jesus were spoken by 
Him as He sat in a boat pushed a little 
way from the shore, while the multitudes 
listened as they sat on the seaside. 

All around Him were objects that brought 
to His mind the subject of His parables. Be- 
fore Him lay the fields, where could be seen 
the sower sowing his seed. Perhaps this also 
suggested to Him the parable of the wheat and 
the tares, as He thought of Satan sowing wick- 
ed words and thoughts in the hearts of the 
people while He was sowing good ones. 

In His mind He could see the time of har- 
vest when the reapers would gather the tares 
into bundles and burn them, but the wheat 
would be gathered into the barn. 

But He could see still farther than that. 
He could see, in His mind's eye, the end of 
the world, when the angels as reapers would 
gather for punishment all who had received 
in their hearts the bad thoughts sown by Satan 
instead of the good thoughts sown by Himself. 

How sad it is to know that Jesus came to 
the earth to save people from such punish- 

89 



90 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

ment and a great many of them will not re- 
ceive His words. 

At the close of the day, when Jesus had 
spoken some of these parables, He said to His 
disciples, "Let us pass over unto the other 
side." 

As they sailed away from the shore, the 
people started for their homes, and Jesus, 
wearied with the day's work of teaching, laid 
His head upon the cushion of the seat in the 
boat, and soon was fast asleep. 

While the disciples were rowing toward 
the other store, they noticed a great storm 
coming. The winds began to blow about 
them fiercely, and the waves dashed into the 
boat. They were in great danger of being 
sunk in the sea, and they were badly fright- 
ened. 

With the tempest and darkness upon 
them, and the foaming waves about them, 
Jesus slept quietly on. Soon the frightened 
disciples came to Him, and, aw r akening Him, 
said, "Master, Master, we perish." 

He arose from His sleep and spoke to the 
wind and the waves, and immediately the 
tempest ceased, and over the waves came a 
great calm. 



JESUS ON THE SEA 91 

And He said to His disciples, "Why are ye 
so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?" 
(Mark 4:40). 

They were very much afraid, and said to 
one another, "What manner of man is this! 
for He commandeth even the winds and 
water, and they obey Him" (Luke 8:25). 

God and Jesus made the wind and waves 
and they obey the Divine voice. Jesus was 
not going to let His disciples perish. He al- 
ways takes care of His own, but He thought 
His disciples should have had a little more 
faith in Him, and have believed He would 
not let them be lost. 

He is pleased when we believe in Him. 
He wants us to always trust Him, and believe 
that He will never fail us or forget us. He 
is glad when we call to Him for help, and He 
always gives it. Never forget to ask Him for 
His help daily. 

At another time Jesus spent a very busy 
day healing the sick and feeding the multi- 
tude. When evening came He told His dis- 
ciples to get into the boat and go before Him 
to the other side of the sea, while He sent the 
people home. 

After the disciples had gone and the peo- 
ple had scattered, Jesus went up the mountain 



92 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

side to pray. He liked to be alone when He 
talked with God, and in several places in the 
Bible we read of Him praying at night and 
early in the morning. We should take Jesus 
as an example and pattern our own life after 
His life. 

While Jesus was alone in the mountain, 
the disciples were in the ship in the midst of 
the sea, tossed about by the waves. They were 
in danger of being buried by them, for they 
sometimes covered the ship. They could make 
no headway against the wind, and they were 
very much distressed. 

Though Jesus was praying in the moun- 
tain, and the disciples were far away in the 
midst of the waves, He knew they were in 
trouble, and as He always goes to the help of 
His true disciples, so He did this time; and 
very early in the morning, while it was per- 
haps quite dark, He went to them, walking on 
the top of the water. 

When the disciples saw Him, they were 
afraid and said, "It is a spirit." But Jesus 
immediatey spoke to them and said, "Be of 
good cheer; it is I; be not afraid" (Matt. 
14:27). 

How glad they were to hear the voice of 



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JESUS ON THE SEA 95 

Jesus, and how their hearts were filled with 
hope and joy as He said, "Be of good cheer; it 
is I; be not afraid." 

Peter now knew that they were perfectly 
safe, and his fear vanished. He was so eager 
to get to Him that he said, "Lord, if it be thou, 
bid me come unto thee on the water." 

And Jesus said, "Come." So Peter 
climbed out of the ship and started to walk 
to Jesus on top of the water; but instead of 
keeping his eyes on Jesus, he looked down at 
the waves, and, becoming afraid, he began to 
sink, and cried out, "Lord, save me." 

Jesus immediately stretched out His hand 
and caught him, and upheld him. 

The reason Peter began to sink was be- 
cause he had not enough faith to believe that 
Jesus could keep him on top of the water. He 
had enough faith to start with, but Satan put 
doubt in his mind. 

Let us be careful that we do not allow 
Satan to plant the seeds of doubt and fear in 
our hearts. 

When Jesus, with Peter, entered the ship, 
the wind stopped blowing and the sea became 
calm, and they all worshipped Him, saying, 
"Of a truth thou art the Son of God" (Matt. 
14:33). 



JESUS FEEDING THE HUNGRY 

John the Baptist had been put in prison by 
King Herod. This was not the same king 
who had sent his soldiers to Bethlehem about 
thirty years before, seeking to destroy Jesus, 
whom he feared would become king of the 
Jews. This was another King Herod, but he 
was a very wicked man, too, and his wicked- 
ness helped to bring about the beheading of 
John the Baptist. 

If he had been a righteous king, he would 
never have been guilty of this murder, for 
John the Baptist, you remember, was a man 
of God, and did not deserve the death this 
wicked king permitted. When one begins to 
sin, he may be sure Satan will lead him into 
all sorts of trouble. 

Herod was very sorry to have John the 
Baptist killed, but he had promised a certain 
maid that she could have whatever she 
wanted, even if she should ask for the half of 
his kingdom. 

She hurried out to ask her mother what 
she should ask from the king, and her mother, 
who was a very wicked woman, told her to 

96 



JESUS FEEDING THE HUNGRY 97 

ask for the head of John the Baptist. This 
she did, and the king, because he had made 
her such a foolish promise, brought about this 
cruel murder. 

Jesus and His disciples were deeply 
grieved when they heard of it, and, being very 
weary ^nd wanting to get away from the 
crowd awhile, Jesus said to His disciples, 
"Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, 
and rest awhile." 

They went by boat about six miles to 
find a quiet resting place, and when they 
reached the spot they had in mind and Jesus 
left the boat, He found, instead of solitude, a 
multitude of people on the bank waiting for 
His coming. 

The people had seen them as they sailed, 
and, knowing it was Jesus, left the towns and 
villages, and, running faster on the land than 
they were sailing on the sea, they reached the 
place selected in time to welcome Him. 

Jesus and His disciples had badly needed 
rest and quiet, but His great, loving heart 
was full of pity when He saw before Him a 
mass of people whose hungry hearts longed to 
hear His words, and whose wasted bodies 
needed His divine touch to bring them back 
to health and happiness. He could not turn 



98 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

them away. So he healed their sick and taught 
them the words of life. 

How often Jesus forgot His tired body 
when doing the work God had sent Him to 
do. How forgetful of self we should be when 
doing the work He has left us. 

The day wore away and evening came, 
and the people still stayed on to hear the 
words of truth and see the sick made well. 
They had had nothing to eat, and Jesus said 
to Philip, "Whence shall we buy bread that 
these may eat?" 

Philip did not know what to do. Andrew 
said there was a little boy there who had 
brought five loaves and two fishes; but he 
said, "What are they among so many?" 

They did indeed seem few, for the fishes 
were small and the loaves were only thin bar- 
ley cakes. 

Jesus told them to have the people sit 
down on the grass, and when they were all 
seated, He took the five loaves and two fishes 
and thanked God for them. He began to give 
them to the disciples, and the disciples gave 
to the multitude, and they kept giving out like 
that until everyone had all they wanted to eat. 

Jesus, through His wonderful power, had 
fed about five thousand men besides many 



JESUS FEEDING THE HUNGRY 99 

women and children, with only five barley 
loaves and two small fishes, and what was left 
over filled twelve baskets. 

Sitting on the mountain side not far from 
the sea of Galilee, Jesus, at another time, fed 
the multitude. This time He fed about four 
thousand men, besides women and children. 

People had brought their friends who 
were lame, and blind, and dumb, and crip- 
pled, and sick, and laid them at the feet of 
Jesus, and He healed them. 

They had listened to Him for three days, 
and the food they had brought was all gone. 
The food the disciples had brought was all 
gone, too, except seven loaves, and a few little 
fishes. 

He would not send them away hungry 
lest they would be too weak to get home; so, 
as before, after they were all seated on the 
grass, Jesus took the loaves and fishes and 
thanked God for them. He divided them and 
gave them to the disciples, and the disciples 
gave to the multitude until all had enough. 
What was left from this meal filled seven 
baskets. 

No synagogue was large enough to hold 
the people who came to hear the words of 



100 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

the Savior, and His preaching was done most- 
ly in the open air. 

While standing on the seaside one day, 
with many people about Him eager to hear 
His teaching, He noticed two boats near the 
shore which belonged to some fishermen. 
One of the fishermen was Peter, and one of 
the boats belonged to him. 

Jesus entered into that boat and told 
Peter to push the boat out just a little from 
the land. He sat down and taught the people, 
while they stood or sat on the shore. 

He knew that Peter and his partners were 
somewhat discouraged, because they had 
spent the night in fishing and had caught 
nothing, so when He had ceased speaking to 
the people He told Peter to row out into 
deeper water and let his fishing net down as 
they went. 

Peter said, "Master, we have toiled all the 
night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless, 
at thy word, I will let down the net." 

Peter considered Jesus a great Teacher, 
whose commands should be obeyed. He lis- 
tened closely to His teachings, and readily 
obeyed His orders. 

To hear attentively and obey cheerfully 



JESUS FEEDING THE HUNGRY 101 

are duties we owe to all who are in authority 
over us. 

As they drew the net to the shore, it be- 
gan to break, for it enclosed a multitude of 
fishes. They beckoned excitedly to their part- 
ners, who were in the other boat, to come and 
help them. Both boats were as full as they 
could carry and were almost ready to sink. 
Everybody who saw what Jesus had done was 
astonished at the number of fishes that had 
been caught. 

If Peter had refused to let down the net, 
saying there was no use; they had fished all 
night, and there were no fish near, nothing 
would have been done. Neither can Jesus 
bring into our lives the blessings He would 
give us unless we, like Peter, are ready to in- 
stantly obey Him. 



. POWER OVER DEMONS 

One time, when Jesus had crossed the lake 
and landed on the other side, a man who 
had an evil spirit met Him. This man was 
so fierce that people dared not go near him. 
He lived among the graves, and often he had 
broken the chains with which he had been 
bound. 

This man was in the power of this evil 
spirit within him. The demon had control of 
the man, and made him do whatever he liked. 
Night and day he was in the mountains, or 
among the graves, crying and cutting himself 
with stones. 

If we permit Satan to take control of us, 
he will make us do whatever he wants us to 
do and his desires are always evil. He begins 
to get us in his power by urging us to do some 
little sin — to disobey or tell an untruth or use 
bad words. He knows if he gets us to sin once 
it will be easier to get us to sin again. And 
so he keeps on coaxing us to sin again and 
again until he has us under his control like the 
demon had this poor man. 

The way to keep out of the clutches of 

102 



POWER OVER DEMONS 103 

Satan is to boldly say no to all the coaxings 
to sin that come to you, and allow Jesus to 
control you. We want nothing to do with 
Satan, and the boy or girl who takes Jesus 
to lead them through this life is a boy or girl 
of great courage, and they are sure to win in 
all the battles of life, for they have a great 
Commander. 

When the man saw Jesus away off, he ran 
to Him, fell down before Him, and wor- 
shipped Him. Then the evil spirit, fearing 
Jesus was going to destroy him, for he knew 
He had had all power, cried with a loud voice, 
"What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou 
Son of God, most high? I beseech thee, tor- 
ment me not" (Luke 8:28). 

Jesus had said, "Come out of the man, 
thou unclean spirit," and he begged that he 
and the other evil spirits in the man might 
not be sent out of that country, and asked to 
be permitted to enter into a herd of hogs that 
was feeding on the mountain. 

And Jesus said, "Go." When they left 
the man they entered the swine, and the whole 
herd ran violently down the steep mountain 
side into the sea and perished in the waters. 

The men who kept the swine were greatly 
frightened, and fled to the city, telling what 



104 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

had happened, to everyone they met, and the 
people flocked about Jesus to see what had 
been done. 

There they found quietly sitting at the 
feet of Jesus the man in his right mind, who a 
short time before had been under the control 
of evil spirits. 

How quickly demons flee at the com- 
mand of Jesus. Nothing can break the bonds 
with which Satan binds his victims except 
the power of Jesus. 

As Jesus was leaving their country, the 
man whom He had healed begged to go with 
Him, but Jesus told him to go back home to 
his friends and tell them what great things 
the Lord had done for him. 

He went back to the city and gladly told 
how Jesus had driven out of him the evil 
spirits, and all the people were surprised to 
see him in his right mind again. 

Satan likes to have his evil spirits dwell 
in the hearts of people, making them proud, 
dishonest, and selfish; and if any such spirit 
as that finds a home in our hearts, we have 
only to ask Jesus to take it out, and believe 
that He will do it, and He will. His own Spirit 
then will dwell in our hearts and control us. 

As a great change came over this man 



POWER OVER DEMONS 105 

when the demons were cast out by Jesus, 
so a great change conies over us when He 
takes the evil out of our hearts and fills us with 
His own blessed Spirit. 

At one time Jesus took Peter and John 
and went up into a high mountain. While 
He prayed, the eyes of the three disciples be- 
came heavy with sleep ? and when they awoke 
they saw Jesus transfigured before them. He 
was changed. His face shone with a heavenly 
light and His raiment was white as snow. 
Moses and Elias, whom God had sent from 
heaven, talked with Him about His death, 
which should take place when He should 
reach the city of Jerusalem. 

Soon a bright cloud surrounded them and 
a voice out of the cloud said, 'This is my be- 
loved Son in whom I am well pleased." 

When the disciples heard the voice, they 
became very much afraid and fell on their 
faces to the ground, but Jesus came and 
touched them, and said, "Arise, and be not 
afraid." When they opened their eyes they 
saw no one but Jesus. 

Going down the mountain side, He told 
them to tell no man what they had seen until 
He had risen from the dead. They kept the 
secret, but they wondered among themselves 



106 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

what He meant by saying He would rise from 
the dead; for many people thought He would 
proclaim Himself King when He entered Je- 
rusalem. 

Reaching the foot of the mountain, they 
found the disciples they had left there and a 
great multitude of people. One man coming 
out from the crowd knelt before Jesus and 
asked Him to have mercy on his son. 

He said his son had a spirit in him that 
made him dumb and foam at the mouth and 
gnash with his teeth, and he was in continual 
danger of being drowned or burned, for some 
times he would fall into the water, and some- 
times into the fire. 

Jesus said, "Bring him to me." 

As they were bringing the boy, the demon 
within him saw Jesus, and became so greatly 
enraged that he caused the boy to foam at 
the mouth and fall on the ground. 

Jesus asked the father how long his son 
had been so afflicted, and the father said ever 
since he was a little child, and he continued, 
"If thou canst do anything, have compassion 
on us and help us." 

And Jesus said to him, "If thou canst be- 
lieve, all things are possible to him that be- 
lieveth" (Mark 9:23). 



POWER OVER DEMONS 107 

And the man, with tears running, down 
his cheeks, said, "Lord, I believe." He meant 
he believed that Jesus had the power of God 
to cast the demon out of his son. 

Jesus spoke to the spirit, when He saw the 
man believed, and said, 'Thou dumb and deaf 
spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and en- 
ter no more into him." 

Hearing the command of Jesus, and 
knowing that all must obey that voice, the de- 
mon in great rage again threw the boy into 
convulsions, and cried and came out of him. 
The boy was so weak that he lay on the 
ground like one dead, and many people stand- 
ing by said, "He is dead." 

But Jesus stooped down and took him by 
the hand, lifted him up, and gave him to his 
father. He was a well boy, and forever after 
free from the power of the demon. 

One day, when Jesus was traveling 
through the country near the cities of Tyre 
and Sidon, He went into a house to rest, and 
be alone awhile. 

The life of Jesus was a busy one. He 
was ever living to help others, and His body 
was, at times, very weary. He needed this 
rest, but the world was full of such helpless 



108 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

people that He could scarcely find time to be 
alone. 

This time it was a woman, whose daugh- 
ter had an unclean spirit, who had heard of 
His wonderful works, and came and fell at 
His feet. She was not a Jew, and Jesus' 
earthly ministry was to be spent especially 
among the Jewish people. The Gospel was 
for everyone, but it was God's plan to have 
it preached to the Jews first, for they should 
have been most ready to receive it. 

As this woman fell at His feet, she cried, 
saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, thou son 
of David; my daughter is grievously vexed 
with a devil." 

He did not answer her, and His disciples 
came to Him and said, "Send her away; for 
she crieth after us." 

Jesus turned to the woman and said, "I 
am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the 
house of Israel:" meaning He had been sent 
especially to the Jewish people. 

But she would not keep from pleading. 
She knew He could heal her daughter, and 
with a great love for her child in her heart, 
and knowing that if Jesus did not help her 
there was no other to whom she could go, she 



POWER OVER DEMONS 109 

worshipped Him and said, "Lord, help me" 
(Matt. 15:25). 

Jesus intended to help her all the time, 
but He wanted to test her faith. He wanted 
her to really believe He could heal her child. 

Our faith in Jesus is sometimes tested, 
but we must be as firm in our belief that He 
will help us as was this praying, pleading, 
mother. 

So He told her He had come to bring sal- 
vation to the Jews and it was not well that 
He should take from them and give to her 
who was not a Jew. 

But the woman replied that all she 
wanted was the healing of her child by His 
mighty power and this would help her greatly 
and be no loss to the Jews. She did not want 
to rob them of anything, but she wanted what 
they could spare. 

And Jesus, well pleased with her answer, 
and knowing her faith in Him, said, "0 
woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even 
as thou wilt." 

And the woman returned home and 
found her daughter lying upon the bed, and 
the evil spirit had gone out of her to return 
no more. Jesus has all power. He is able to 
do all things. 



110 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Jesus came as a Savior to the Jews first* 
but He is also a Savior to all who will believe 
in Him. 



GIVING SIGHT TO THE BLIND 

There were many blind people in the land 
of the Jews. In hardly any other country 
could so many be found. They would sit 
every day by the side of the road or on the 
streets of the city, begging from every one 
who passed by. Some of them had been born 
blind, and some had become blind, and most 
of them were very, very poor. 

The ones who had been born blind did 
not know in what a beautiful world God had 
placed them. Thej^ never knew how green 
the grass was nor how white or red or yellow 
were the flow r ers. They never had seen the 
brightness of the sun nor looked upon the 
beauties of the world at night. 

Oh, it is sad indeed to be born blind; not 
to be able to run and play and see where you 
are going, but always to have to be led or feel 
your way by holding onto things with which 
you are familiar. 

But, sad as it is to be born blind, there 
is something even worse than that. To have 
blackness before your eyes at all times is not 
nearly so bad as to have a heart full of the 

111 



112 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

blackness of sin. Never to see the beautiful 
earth and sky that God has made is not nearly 
so bad as it is not to know that you are God's 
child and are perfectly safe in His keeping. 

One can be very happy, even though 
blind, if only he has permitted God to fill his 
heart full of His love; but one can never be 
really happy unless he loves God, although 
he may have the brightest of eyes. 

While we are glad God has given us eyes 
with which to see His wonderful world, we are 
more glad that He has given us a heart of love 
for Him. 

These blind people in the land where 
Jesus was, were in a sad condition; for they 
not only could not see, but they did not know 
Jesus. Many who had always had their sight 
did not know Jesus, either. So none of these 
were really happy. 

Jesus looked with pity upon the great 
crowds of people who had not been taught to 
accept Him as their Savior, and He said they 
were scattered like sheep who had no shep- 
herd. He began to teach them many things 
about God and Himself, and many whose 
hearts were filled with love for Him followed 
Him. 

Doing miracles was one of His ways of 



GIVING SIGHT TO THE BLIND 113 

teaching that He was the Son of God. He did 
things that no one else but God could do. One 
day Jesus saw a man who had been born 
blind, and He took clay and put it on the eyes 
of the blind man and told him to go and wash 
in the pool of Siloam. 

The man immediately went and washed 
in the water and his eyes were opened. His 
neighbors and friends, who knew he had al- 
ways been blind, gathered about him, and, 
seeing his eyes so bright, they were surprised 
and hardly knew him. They questioned 
among themselves if it were really he or was it 
someone else. 

Some said, yes, this is the man who was 
once blind: others said, It looks like him; but 
the man himself said that he was really the 
man who had been blind from his birth. 

They were eager to know how a person 
who had been born blind could receive his 
sight, so they asked him, "How were thine 
eyes opened?" 

And he answered, "A man that is called 
Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes and 
said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and 
wash: and I went and washed, and I received 
sight" (John 9:11). 

Some time later Jesus met him again. He 



114 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

had heard that the Pharisees had cast the man 
out of the synagogue because he had declared 
that Jesus was from God, and that it was Jesus 
who had opened his eyes. 

Jesus said to him, "Dost thou believe on 
the Son of God?" 

He answered, "Who is he, Lord, that I 
might believe on him?" 

Jesus said, "Thou hast both seen him, 
and it is he that talketh with thee." 

And the man said, "Lord, I believe." And 
he worshipped Him and his heart was filled 
with love for Jesus. He was a very happy 
man, for he had his sight, but, best of all, he 
had love for God, without which no one can 
be really happy. 

Another beggar, Blind Bartimaeus, while 
sitting by the roadside near the city of Jericho 
one day, heard a noise as of a great company 
coming along the road. He listened and won- 
dered who it could be. Finally he asked some 
one standing by who was coming, and when 
they told him it was Jesus of Nazareth, he be- 
gan to cry out and say, "Jesus, thou Son of 
David, have mercy on me." They told him to 
keep quiet, but he cried out again, "Thou 
Son of David, have mercy on me." 

Jesus heard him, as He always hears the 



GIVING SIGHT TO THE BLIND 115 

cry of any one who calls to Him, and He 
stopped. The crowd stopped, and He com- 
manded that they call this blind man to Him. 

And they said to the blind man, "Be of 
good comfort, rise: he calleth thee." 

How glad this poor blind beggar was to 
hear this. He had faith to believe that Jesus 
would give him the desire of his heart. So, 
casting away the garment that was about him, 
he rose from the ground and was led to Jesus. 

When He asked him what it was he 
wanted Him to do for him, he replied, "Lord, 
that I might receive my sight." 

And He said to him, "Go thy way; thy 
faith hath made thee whole." He immedi- 
ately received his sight and became a follower 
of Jesus. 

As he mingled with the crowd, he praised 
God, and all the people, when they saw what 
had been done, praised God also. 

Wherever Jesus went He found some good 
to be done, and so may we always find some 
good thing to do for some one else. There 
are many people in the world who need our 
help, and we should follow the example of 
our Savior. 

When Jesus and His disciples came to the 
town of Bethsaida, they brought a blind man 



116 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

to Him and begged Him to touch him that he 
might receive his sight. 

And Jesus, ever willing to help, took him 
by the hand and led him out of the town. 
Putting His hands upon the eyes of the blind 
man, He asked him if he saw anything, and he 
replied that he saw men walking and they 
looked like trees. 

He put His hands again on his eyes and 
made him look up, and his sight was restored 
perfectly, and he saw everything clearly. 
Jesus sent him to his home, which was not in 
the city, and told him not to go into the town 
nor tell it to any one in the town. 

The people of Bethsaida had been very 
stubborn and ungrateful toward Jesus. He 
had done many mighty works there, but they 
would not forsake their sins and believe. He 
had come to be their Savior, but they would 
not be saved. He had come to be their Shep- 
herd, but they would not follow Him. So the 
blind man was led outside the town to be 
healed, for the people of Bethsaida were un- 
worthy to see any more of the miracles of 
Jesus. 

Do you know there are many people all 
about us who daily see the things that God 
has made, and daily feed upon the food and 



GIVING SIGHT TO THE BLIND 117 

breathe the air He in His goodness and in His 
love has given us, and yet refuse to obey Him? 

Many people know that Jesus is the Son 
of God, but they will not obey as the Spirit 
calls them to take up their cross and follow 
Him. Their hearts grow harder, and after a 
time the Spirit of God ceases to call them, and 
they are lost, because, like the people of Beth- 
saida, they were stubborn and ungrateful. 

We must not allow our hearts to grow 
hard, but we must listen to the slightest call 
of the Spirit, and, like the blind men, we will 
receive light and love from Jesus when we 
obey. 



RAISING THE DEAD 

One spring day Jesus and His disciples, 
followed by a great number of people, trav- 
eled many miles to a city called Nain. 

Nain was a small city with walls around 
it, and gates in the wall through which peo- 
ple might enter the city or leave it. 

As Jesus and His disciples and the multi- 
tudes came near the gate, they saw a funeral 
possession coming out. 

A dead man was being carried on a bier 
to the grave. He was a young man : the only 
son of his mother, and she was a widow. 
Many people were sorry for her and they 
were with her as they carried her son to the 
burying ground, which was outside the walls 
of the city. 

Jesus saw her sorrow and there was pity 
in His heart for her. He went near and said, 
"Weep not." 

He went near the bier on which the dead 
man lay and touched it. The men who carried 
him stood still. The funeral procession 
stopped, and Jesus said, "Young man, I say 
unto thee, Arise" (Luke 7:14). 

118 



RAISING THE DEAD 119 

And the young man who was dead and 
was being carried to his grave, sat up on the 
bier and began to speak and Jesus gave him 
to his mother. 

When they saw this dead man brought 
back to life, a great fear fell on all the peo- 
ple, and they praised God, saying, 'That a 
great prophet is risen up among us, and That 
God hath visited His people" (Luke 7:16). 

Another time as Jesus was by the sea, and 
as usual, crowded by many people, a ruler 
of the synagogue by the name of Jairus came 
through the crowd, and, falling on his face 
before Jesus, said, "My little daughter lieth at 
the point of death: I pray Thee come and lay 
Thy hands on her, that she may be healed, and 
she shall live" (Mark 5:23). 

This was his only daughter, and she was 
about twelve years old. "And Jesus went with 
him: and much people followed Him, and 
thronged Him" (Mark 5:24). 

While they were on the way a messenger 
came from the ruler's house and said to 
Jairus, "Thy daughter is dead: Why troublest 
thou the Master any further?" 

When Jesus heard what the people were 
saying, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, 
"Be not afraid, only believe." 



120 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

The people were making a great noise in 
the house of the ruler after the death of the 
daughter. They were weeping and wailing, 
for whenever there was a death among them 
the poorest Jew was required to have at least 
tw r o people who could blow the pipes or horns, 
and one woman who could make a great noise 
by weeping and moaning. Jairus was not a 
poor man, so there were probably many peo- 
ple making a noise. 

Jesus reached the house, and, hearing all 
this tumult, He said, "Why make ye this ado, 
and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleep- 
eth" (Mark 5:39). 

That is the way Jesus spoke of her death. 
He was not going to leave her under the power 
of death, but would raise her from it as a 
person awakes from sleep. 

The people laughed at Him, for they did 
not know what power He had. He had not 
allowed anyone to follow Him when He heard 
of her death except Peter, James and John. 
With these disciples and the father and 
mother of the child, He entered the room 
where she was lying. All other people He had 
ordered from the room. He took her by the 
hand and said, "Damsel, I say unto thee. 



arise." 



RAISING THE DEAD 121 

Her spirit immediately came into her 
body, and she arose and was well. Jesus com- 
manded that they give her something to eat. 

No one has the power to bring the dead 
to life but God. Man can do nothing. He 
is only a creature. God is the Creator. He 
made all things and He has the power over 
all things whether they are dead or alive. To 
Him we owe a life of love and obedience. 

In the little town of Bethany, in Judea, 
lived Mary and Martha and Lazarus. They 
were good friends of Jesus and He loved 
them. One day Lazarus was sick, and as he 
grew worse and worse his sisters became very 
much distressed about him. When they saw 
he was dangerously ill, they sent this message 
to Jesus, "Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest 
is sick" (John 11:3). 

Although the words touched the heart of 
Jesus, He could not leave the place where He 
was for two days; either because He was too 
busy with His teaching and healing, or be- 
cause He was waiting for God to direct Him. 

When the time came for Him to go to 
Bethany He said to His disciples, "Let us go 
into Judea again." 

The Jews, especially in Jerusalem, were 
very angry with Jesus because of His teaching 



122 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

the words of God, and His healing on the Sab- 
bath day and His declaration that He was the 
Son of God. 

Bethany was about two miles from Jeru- 
salem, and, fearing the Jews would kill Jesus 
if He went to see Lazarus, the disciples said, 
"Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee, 
and goest thou thither again?" 

They could not detain Him, so the disci- 
ples said they would go, too, that they might 
die with Him. When they reached Bethany 
they found Lazarus had been dead four days, 
and was buried, and many Jews were there 
trying to comfort Mary and Martha. 

When Martha heard that Jesus was com- 
ing, she went out to meet Him and said to 
Him, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my 
brother had not died." 

Jesus could have healed Lazarus at a dis- 
tance just as well as He could by being close, 
if that had been God 9 s will. Jesus knew Laz- 
arus was dead before He started to Bethany, 
and it was to show the people the power of 
God and to increase the faith of His followers 
that He had not healed him while he was sick. 
It was indeed a miracle to make a sick man 
w r ell immediately, but it was a greater miracle 
to raise one from the dead, but it was a still 



RAISING THE DEAD 123 

greater miracle to bring back to life a man 
who had been dead four days, and had been 
buried. 

Jesus said to her, "Thy brother shall rise 
again." 

Martha did not know He meant that Laz- 
arus should rise now, but she thought He 
meant he should rise at that time when God 
shall raise all bodies from the dead, so she an- 
swered, "I know that he shall rise again in the 
resurrection at the last day." 

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection, 
and the life: he that believeth in me, though 
he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25). 

He wanted to show Martha that He was 
the Son of God, and that it was through Him 
that the dead some day would be brought to 
life, and it would be just as easy for Him to 
bring Lazarus to life new as it would be to 
bring him to life years from now. 

Whoever believes in Jesus and lives a 
life that prepares him to meet God, though he 
will die some day, will be raised up by Jesus 
and live with Him forever. 

Everyone who does not know Jesus is 
dead to God, he is dead in his sins; but, if he 
accepts Jesus as his Savior, his sins will be 
forgiven and he will be alive unto God. 



124 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

After this talk outside the town where 
Martha had met Jesus, she hurried back to 
where Mary, overcome with grief, sat in the 
house, and quietly told her so no one would 
hear that Jesus had come and had asked for 
her. 

When Mary heard this, she arose quickly 
and left the house. Her friends noticed her 
leaving, and they followed her, whispering 
among themselves that she was going to the 
grave of Lazarus to weep. 

When she got to Jesus she fell down at 
His feet weeping, and when Jesus saw her and 
her friends weeping, He felt so sorry for them 
in their grief that He wept also. 

He asked them where they had buried 
him, and they showed Him the place. They 
had buried him in a cave and a stone covered 
the opening. 

Jesus told them to take the stone away, 
and when they did as He commanded, He 
looked up to God and thanked His Father for 
hearing His prayers. He said He knew that 
God always heard Him, and He wanted the 
people who stood by the grave to believe that 
God has sent Him into the world. He was 
just about to perform a miracle that nobody 
could do except one sent from God. 



RAISING THE DEAD 125 

x\fter His prayer, He cried with a loud 
voice, ''Lazarus, come forth;" and Lazarus, 
who had been dead four days, came out of the 
cave bound hand and foot with the clothes 
which he had been wrapped in for burial, and 
his face was bound about with a napkin. 
Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him 

go." 

He wanted all the people to know that a 
miracle had been done. Something had hap- 
pened that nothing but the power of God 
could bring to pass. Lazarus had been 
changed from death to life at the command 
of Jesus. 

When we become followers of Jesus a 
miracle is done in us. Nothing but the power 
of God can bring about such a change as 
comes over us. We hate sin and love Jesus, 
and people know by our changed lives that 
Jesus has performed another miracle. 

No doubt the weeping of Mary and Martha 
and their friends was immediately turned 
into rejoicing when they saw Lazarus stand- 
ing alive and well before them. These sisters 
were very grateful to Jesus, and they loved 
Him very much. He had always found a 
warm welcome at their house, and we read 
of Him often resting there. 



ENEMIES OF JESUS 

In the great city of Jerusalem was the tem- 
ple. Here, on feast days, Jews from dif- 
ferent parts of the country met to worship in 
this holy place. Here lived the priests and 
many Pharisees and scribes. Scattered 
through the country were other Pharisees 
and scribes teaching in the different syna- 
gogues. 

These hated Jesus because He said their 
works were evil. Their hearts were not pure 
in the sight of God, and their teaching was 
not the Word of God, but they taught tradi- 
tions of men: that is, what man had said peo- 
ple should do, but not what God had said 
should be done. 

If they had loved God they would have 
loved Jesus, for He was the Savior God had 
promised to these Jewish people years before. 
They were not looking for a Savior who 
would teach them lessons of love and humil- 
ity, but they were expecting a Savior who 
would reign gloriously over the Jewish nation 
and free them from the rule of the Gentiles. 

Jesus, in His poverty, with fishermen and 

126 



ENEMIES OF JESUS 127 

publicans and sinners and the common peo- 
ple flocking after Him, did not seem to these 
haughty Pharisees like the Savior they had 
expected. 

Many times they tried to ask Him ques- 
tions He could not answer, hoping thus to find 
some fault in Him whereby they might accuse 
Him. His answers to all questions silenced 
them, for His wisdom was of God, and they 
were only men. 

How gladly He would have shown them 
the way to heaven if only they had listened 
and believed; but we learn that even the peo- 
ple of Nazareth, the town where He spent 
most of His life, had turned against Him, and 
we no longer read of Him teaching and wor- 
shipping in the synagogues of Galilee and 
Judea. 

Once they showed such hatred toward 
Him that He thought it best to leave Galilee. 
Another time they were so determined to kill 
Him that He thought it wise to leave Judea. 
And so from place to place with no where to 
lay His head the son of God went, teaching 
His disciples and healing all manner of sick 
people. 

Do you wonder why Jesus endured all 
this persecution? He was carrying out God's 



128 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

plan to give salvation to the people. He had 
come to earth to teach His followers and to 
die for the sins of the world; and with obe- 
dience to God and with a great love for every- 
one of God's creatures, He was willing to suf- 
fer all this that you and I and all people might 
have a chance to live with Him forever. What 
an example for us! 

The people who followed Jesus wanted to 
make Him king and they really thought He 
would declare Himself king when He went to 
Jerusalem. The disciples thought so, too, so 
one day Jesus plainly told His disciples that 
He must go up to Jerusalem and suffer many 
things of the elders and chief priests and 
scribes, and be killed, and the third day be 
raised from the dead. The disciples were 
shocked and grieved to hear this and could 
not understand why this was necessary. 

For some time Jesus had kept away from 
the Pharisees and avoided meeting with the 
multitude. Sometimes, when He healed peo- 
ple, He would tell them to say nothing about 
it, for He needed to be alone with His disci- 
ples to teach them many things; but they were 
so glad to be healed that, forgetting what He 
had told them, they made known what He had 



ENEMIES OF JESUS 129 

done for them and others knew where to 
find Him. 

That is just the way we feel when we turn 
away from sin and God fills our hearts with 
His love. We want to tell it, and Jesus wants 
us to tell it. 

He wants little children to come to Him. 
He said so. The disciples thought that per- 
haps He was too busy to give any of His time 
to children, and when their mothers brought 
them to have Him put His hands upon their 
heads and bless them, they told the mothers 
not to bother Him; but, when Jesus heard 
them saying this, He said, "Suffer little child- 
ren to come unto me, and forbid them not: 
for of such is the kingdom of God," and He 
took them up in His arms, put His hands upon 
their heads, and blessed them. 

There was to be a great religious feast 
in Jerusalem. It was the feast of Tabernacles, 
and from all parts of the country great 
crowds of Jews were going up to attend it. 
Thinking the Pharisees and their friends 
would be looking for Him, and perhaps arrest 
Him before His work of teaching was fin- 
ished, Jesus did not go up with the crowd. 

The Pharisees looked among the people, 
but could not find Him. A few days later 



130 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Jesus and His disciples entered the city and 
suddenly appeared in the temple, where He 
began teaching the people who had gathered 
about Him. 

They were astonished at His learning. 
They knew He had not attended the schools, 
and they thought God must have taught Him 
as He did the prophets of old. 

Some said, "Is not this he, whom they 
seek to kill? But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and 
they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers 
know indeed that this is the very Christ?" 
(John 7:25-26). 

The Pharisees heard what the people 
were saying among themselves, and they and 
the chief priests sent officers to take Him. 
They returned without Him, and when asked 
why they had not brought Him, they an- 
swered, "Never man spake like this man." 

This angered the Pharisees, but the offi- 
cers would not arrest Him, and after the feast 
was ended Jesus left the city. God was watch- 
ing over Him and it was not yet time for Him 
to fall into the hands of sinful men, but it 
was the time for Him to declare before all the 
people and the rulers that He was indeed the 
Son of the living God. 

He declared this more fully at the feast 



ENEMIES OF JESUS 131 

of Dedication, another feast of the Jews. 
They came around Him and said, "If thou be 
the Christ, tell us plainly." Then He said, "I 
and my Father are one." That was as though 
He had said, "I am the Son of God; I am the 
Savior of men." Then the Jews took up stones 
again to stone Him, but He escaped out of 
their hands. 

Then He went to the country of Perea, 
which was beyond Jordan, near the place 
where John the Baptist had baptized many 
people. 



TO THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER 

For three years Jesus had been going about 
doing good and teaching, but now that 
part of His work as drawing to a close, and 
soon the other part would be finished, and 
His life on earth be ended. 

The time for another feast of the Pass- 
over had come. The Jews kept this feast each 
year in Jerusalem. At this feast lambs were 
slain to remind the people of the Lamb of 
God, who was to come and be slain for the 
world's redemption. Jesus was this Lamb of 
God, and He knew that it was at this Pass- 
over that He was to die to take away the sin 
of the. world. 

A great many people came to Jerusalem 
at this time, and Jesus and His disciples were 
surrounded by the multitude who, with them, 
journeyed toward the Holy City. 

As they neared the city, Jesus told two of 
His disciples to fetch a young ass, on which 
no one had ever ridden, that He might ride 
into Jerusalem. This they did, and, spreading 
garments upon the animal, they placed their 
Master upon it. 

132 



FEAST OF THE PASSOVER 133 

When the multitude saw Him, they re- 
membered an old prophecy which said to Je- 
rusalem, "Rejoice greatly, Daughter of 
Zion; . . . behold, thy King cometh unto thee; 
. . . lowly, and riding upon a colt the foal of 
an ass" (Zechariah 9:9). 

They thought that Jesus was going to as- 
sert His power as their ruler, so they began 
to receive Him as King. They spread their 
outer garments in His path and strewed the 
soft branches of the olive and palm trees be- 
fore Him, and the shouts of these happy, ex- 
cited people echoed and re-echoed from hill 
to hill as they cried, "Hosanna to the Son of 
David; Blessed is He that cometh in the name 
of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest" (Matt. 
21:9). 

Many Pharisees looked upon this scene 
and were angry. They saw that they were 
losing control of the people; and, turning to 
Jesus, they said, "Master, rebuke thv disci- 
ples." 

But He answered, "I tell you that, if these 
should hold their peace, the stones would im- 
mediately cry out" (Luke 19:39, 40). 

This was God's plan and no earthly 
power could stop it. He wanted the attention 
of the people to be centered upon His Son, 



134 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

the Savior of the world, so that the trial and 
crucifixion which were to follow could never 
be hidden or forgotten. 

As the procession came to the brow of 
the hill overlooking Jerusalem, the full splen- 
dor of the beautiful city could be seen. A 
look of sadness came over the face of the 
Savior as He thought of the destruction await- 
ing it. He was now on the place where He 
knew that about forty years later the Roman 
army would encamp and burn to the ground 
this wonderful city of the Jews, and scatter 
abroad God's chosen people, because they had 
rejected Him as their Savior. 

So overcome was the Son of God with 
these thoughts that He wept. Some nearest 
Him heard the words of sorrow He uttered, 
and saw His falling tears; but the multitude 
swept on, singing and shouting down into 
the valley, and then up again to the gate of 
Jerusalem. 

People came out of the city to meet Him, 
and in great wonderment were asking, "Who 
is this?" And the people replied, "This is 
Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth, of Galilee." 

The next day Jesus entered the temple 
and found the Jews doing the same thing He 
had forbade them doing less than three years 



FEAST OF THE PASSOVER 135 

before. They were buying and selling in the 
temple. He heard again the bleating of the 
sheep and the lowing of the cattle, which were 
to be sacrificed for the sins of the people. 

Their sin was not in sacrificing these an- 
imals, for God had ordained that; but their 
wrong doing was in buying and selling in 
God's holy temple. 

Jesus cast out all who sold and bought, 
and overthrew the tables of the money 
changers, and the seats of them that sold 
doves, and He said, "It is written, My house 
shall be called the house of prayer, but ye 
have made it a den of thieves" (Matt. 21:13). 

After the court of the temple was cleared 
at the command of Jesus, the place was filled 
with people who had brought their sick to be 
healed. 

The chief priests and scribes stood by, 
and when they saw the lame leaping for joy, 
and the blind receiving their sight, and all the 
sick people perfectly well, and heard the 
voices of the children about Him in the tem- 
ple shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David," 
they were much displeased. 

Hoping he would silence them, they 
turned to Jesus and said, "Hearest thou what 
these say?" He answered, "Yea, have you 



136 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

never read, Out of the mouths of babes and 
sucklings thou hast perfected praise?" 

He would not silence the happy children, 
for His praises must be sounded, and God had 
permitted the children to do it. 

The rulers were so angry because the 
people followed Jesus and because He showed 
so much authority and power that they met in 
the palace of the high priest, whose name was 
Caiaphas, and planned how they might take 
and destroy Him; but they said it must not 
be on the feast day, lest there be an uproar 
among the people. The people were the 
friends of Jesus and the city would be full of 
them on the day of the feast. The rulers 
thought it best to wait until the feast was over 
and all had returned to their homes. 

The time had now come for the feast, 
and Jesus sent two of His disciples to find 
a place where they might eat the Passover 
supper together. 

People who lived in the city were always 
glad to give a room in their houses to the vis- 
itors where they could keep the feast. 

Jesus told Peter and John, when they 
went out to find a place, that they would meet 
a man carrying a pitcher of water. They 
were to follow Him, and at whatever house he 



FEAST OF THE PASSOVER 137 

entered they were to find the owner and say 
to him, "The Master saith, Where is the guest 
chamber where I shall eat the passover with 
my disciples?" (Mark 14:14). 

Jesus said that the man would then show 
them a large upper room furnished and pre- 
pared, and there the disciples were to make 
ready the supper. 

They did this, and at evening Jesus and 
the twelve were there together. 

As thejr rested on couches around a low 
table, Jesus said, "With desire I have desired 
to eat this passover with you before I suffer." 

There was sweet wine on the table, and 
He took a cup of it, and, after thanking God 
again, said, "Take this, and divide it among 
yourselves; for I say unto you, I will not drink 
of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of 
God shall come." 

There was a tone of sadness in the voice 
of Jesus as He thus talked with His disciples. 
He knew the cross awaited Him. He knew the 
cruelt}^ and ingratitude that would be shown 
Him by the ones He had come to save. His 
sorrow was for them who would reject Him 
and lose eternal life, and for His disciples 
who would suffer much after He had gone 
from them. * : 



138 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

"And He took bread and gave thanks, 
and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, 
This is my body which is given for you : this 
do in remembrance of me." 

"Likewise also the cup, after supper, say- 
ing, This is the new. testament in my blood, 
which is shed for you" (Luke 22:19-20). 

The bread and the wine represent the 
body and blood of Jesus. As the bread was 
broken, and the wine poured out, so on the 
cross Christ's body was broken and His blood 
shed to save us. 

By eating the bread and drinking the 
wine, we show that we believe this. We show 
that we repent of our sins and that we take 
Christ as our Savior. 

This is called the Holy Sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper, and we keep it because He 
has said, "This do in remembrance of me." 

While still seated at the table, Jesus said, 
"Verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall 
betray me" (Matt. 26:21). 

They were exceedingly sorrowful, and, 
knowing there were no evil thoughts in their 
hearts against the Master, each wonderingly 
inquired, "Lord, is it I?" 

Then Judas, who had agreed to bring the 
Pharisees and rulers to a place where they 



FEAST OF THE PASSOVER 139 

might arrest Jesus without fear of the people, 
and believing his Master knew nothing of his 
wicked plot, also asked, "Master, is it I?" 

Nothing could be hidden from the Son 
of God, and He answered Judas, "Thou hast 
said," which meant, "Yes, thou art the one 
w r ho shall betray Me." 

Presently He said again to him, "What 
thou doest, do quickly." No one at the table 
knew what He meant but Judas. The others 
thought He was telling him to buy some 
things they needed, or that he should give 
something to the poor; for Judas took charge 
of their money. He soon arose and left the 
room to carry out his evil plan, and it was 
night when he went out. 

Jesus told His disciples many things that 
night after Judas had gone. He told them He 
was going back to heaven to prepare a place 
for them, and He would come again and re- 
ceive them unto Himself. God would send 
the Holy Spirit into their hearts to lead and 
comfort them while He was gone, and what- 
ever they asked in His name that they should 
receive. 

He promised these things not only to the 
disciples, but He promises them to us also. 

And He said, "He that hath my command- 



140 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

ments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth 
me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of 
nry Father; and I will love him, and will mani- 
fest mvself to him" (John 14:21). 



GETHSEMANE 

That same night Jesus and His eleven dis- 
ciples left the upper room, where they had 
eaten the Passover supper, and went forth 
over the brook Cedron, and entered into a 
garden called Gethsemane. Into this garden 
Jesus had often brought His disciples that 
they might pray and rest. 

Prayer was His purpose now, for He 
needed strength from His Heavenly Father to 
sustain Him in the trials that He knew awaited 
Him. 

In times of trial and temptation, we 
should pray to Him who alone is able to give 
strength to overcome the tempter. 

Leaving all the disciples except Peter, 
James, and John near the entrance, He took 
these three deeper into the garden, and His 
face was very sad, and His heart was very 
heavy. He said, "My soul is exceeding sor- 
rowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch." 

He wanted to be entirely alone with God, 
and, going a little distance from the three, He 
fell on the ground and prayed, u O, my Father, 
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me:" 

141 



142 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

then, in perfect submission to the will of God, 
He said, "Nevertheless not as I will, but as 
thou wilt" (Matt. 26:39). 

No one can describe the suffering of the 
Savior, for He was in the greatest grief that 
anyone has ever felt. He was not suffering 
for His own sins, for He was sinless; but He 
suffered for the sins of the whole world. So 
great was His agony that He sweat drops of 
blood as He prayed. 

Sin is such a dreadful thing in the sight 
of God, and cost Him and His only Son so 
much sorrow to free us from it that we should 
have nothing to do with it. Jesus will keep 
us from falling into sin if we trust Him to 
do it. 

Coming back to His three disciples, He 
found them asleep, but His words awakened 
them as He said to Peter, "What, could ye not 
watch with me one hour?" Knowing the 
weakness of the body, He added, "The spirit 
indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 

Before they had entered the garden, He 
had told His disciples that that night they 
would all be offended because of Him; but 
they had assured Him that they would not, 
and Peter had said, "Although all should be 




NOT MY WILL, BUT THINE BE DONE 



GETHSEMANE 145 

offended, yet will not I. I am ready to go 
with thee, both into prison and to death." 

And Jesus had said to him, "Verily, I say 
unto thee, that this night before the cock crow, 
thou shalt deny me thrice." 

And Peter had answered, "Though I 
should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee." 
The others had declared the same thing. 

Jesus went away from them the second 
time, and prayed again, "0, my Father, if this 
cup may not pass away from me except I 
drink it, thy will be done." 

He came and found them asleep again, 
for their eyes were heavy. His presence 
awakened them, but they could say nothing. 

In great agony He again sought the place 
of prayer and prayed the same words, and 
His will was submissive to the will of His 
Father as He prayed, "0, my Father, if this 
cup may not pass away from me, except I 
drink it, thy will be done," and an angel came 
and comforted Him. 

He came back the third time, and found 
them asleep, and He said, "Sleep on now, and 
take your rest, behold the hour is at hand, and 
the Son of man is betrayed into the hands 
of sinners." 

Even as He spoke, He heard the tread of 



146 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

the soldiers, and saw the light of the lanterns 
and torches through the trees. He said, to His 
disciples, "Rise, let us go; lo he that betray eth 
me is at hand" (Mark 14:42). 

Fearing the soldiers would not recognize 
Jesus, Judas had said to them, "Whomsoever 
I shall kiss, that same is He; take Him and 
lead Him away safely. 9 ' Going up to Jesus, 
he said, "Hail, Master; 9 ' and kissed Him. 

Jesus said reprovingly, "Judas, betrayest 
thou the Son of man with a kiss?" Then, 
turning to the soldiers, He said, "Whom seek 
ye?" 

They answered Him, "Jesus of Nazareth." 

Jesus said, "I am He." 

As He uttered these words the soldiers fell 
to the ground. The very breath of His mouth 
had power to drive them back and strike them 
to the earth. As Job said, "Thus by the blast 
of God, they might have perished, and by the 
breath of his nostrils they might have been 
consumed." 

He wanted them to know they could have 
no power over Him unless He permitted them, 
but because He came into the world to die for 
the sins of the world, He would allow them 
to lead Him like a lamb to the slaughter. 

The soldiers soon arose, and gathered 



GETHSEMANE 147 

about Him, and again He said, "Whom seek 
ye?" And they answered, "Jesus of Naza- 
reth." 

Jesus said, "I have told you that I am he; 
if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way." 
He meant His disciples. They might arrest 
Him, but He would not allow them to touch 
His followers. 

Peter, intending to defend his Master, 
drew his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, 
a servant of the high priest. Jesus touched 
the wounded ear and healed it, and He said, 
"Put up again thy sword into his place; for 
all they that take the sword shall perish with 
the sword." 

"Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray 
to my Father, and He shall presently give me 
more than twelve legions of angels? The cup 
which my Father hath given me, shall I not 
drink it?" He asked. 

"In that same hour said Jesus to the mul- 
titudes, Are ye come out as against a thief 
with swords and staves to take me? I sat 
daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye 
laid no hold on me" (Matt. 26:55). 

Seeing their Master was going to be ar- 
rested, and fearing they also would be taken, 
the disciples, who a short time before said 



148 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

they would not deny Him, and Peter who had 
declared his readiness to go to prison or to 
death with Him, now forsook Him and fled 
into the darkness. 

They had gone to sleep when Jesus had 
said, "Tarry ye here, and watch with me," 
and had neither given Him sympathy when 
He came back to them at different times, nor 
had prayed; therefore they had not received 
the strength and courage that now they so 
much needed. 

We should watch and pray and thus be 
ready for any trial or temptation that may 
come into our lives. Jesus has said, "With- 
out me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). 

The soldiers bound the Savior, who made 
no resistance, and, guarding Him on all sides, 
led captive from the garden the obedient Son 
of God. 

Although the disciples had forsaken Him, 
and no earthly friend was near, Jesus was not 
alone. Once He had said to His disciples, 
"Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, 
that ye shall be scattered, every man to his 
own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am 
not alone, because the Father is with me." 

We have the same assurance. God will 
ever be with us. We may be deserted by 



GETHSEMANE 149 

friends, but the mighty One who made the 
heavens and the earth and all the people, will 
never, never desert His faithful followers. 
He has given us these promises, "I will never 
leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Heb. 13:5). And, 
"If God be for us, who can be against us" 
(Rom. 8:31). 



THE TRIAL AND SENTENCE 

i 

Leaving the garden wrapped in darkness, the 
soldiers and officers led Jesus back over 
the brook Cedron, and into the city of Jeru- 
salem, jj 

They took Him before Annas, who had 
once been the High Priest of the Jews. Very 
likely he asked Him many questions, and tried 
to find some fault in Him, but the members 
of the Sanhedrin were gathering at the palace 
of Caiaphas, the present High Priest, and 
there He must be taken for trial. 

Peter had also left the garden and fol- 
lowed the crowd afar off. John, too, had re- 
crossed the brook and had entered Jerusalem. 
They saw the Savior taken to the palace of the 
High Priest, and both resolved to follow to see 
the end. John was acquainted with some 
people there, and went into the house. He 
noticed Peter standing outside the door, and, 
speaking to the maid who kept the door, she 
permitted Peter to go in. Later, she said to 
him, "Art not thou also one of this man's 
disciples?" And Peter said, "I am not." 

The early morning was very chilly, and 

150 



THE TRIAL AND SENTENCE 151 

a fire had been built. Peter sat down among 
the servants to warm himself and wait to hear 
the result of the trial of Jesus before the San- 
hedrin. 

As the light of the fire fell upon his face 
some one standing by looked at him earnestly 
and asked, "Art not thou also one of His dis- 
ciples?" He denied again, saying, "I am not." 

One of the men who was a relative of 
Malchus, whose ear Peter had cut off with his 
sword, said to him, "Did not I see thee in the 
garden with Him? 9 ' 

Peter again denied, and immediately the 
cock crew. Jesus turned and looked at Peter 
and he remembered that Jesus had said, 
"Verily, I say unto thee, that this night before 
the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice." 

Knowing how untrue he had been to the 
Lord, and seeing Jesus as He turned and 
looked at him, Peter left the palace weeping 
bitterly. 

As Jesus stood bound before the Jewish 
elders and scribes the High Priest asked Him 
of His disciples and of His doctrine. 

Jesus answered, "I spoke openly to the 
world; I ever taught in the synagogues, and 
in the temple, whither the Jews always re- 
sort; and in secret have I said nothing. 



152 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

All these years that Jesus had been teach- 
ing, the Pharisees had listened to His doc- 
trine, and they already knew what He had 
taught. They only hoped He would claim be- 
fore them all that He was the Son of God, for 
that was the only thing of which they could 
accuse Him. They thought He would do this 
and so they questioned Him about His doc- 
trine. 

"Why asketh thou me? 95 He said. "Ask 
them which heard me, what I have said unto 
them; behold they know what I said." 

When He had said this, one of the officers 
standing by, thinking his master had not been 
treated with respect, struck Jesus with the 
palm of his hand and said, "Answerest thou 
the high priest so?" 

Jesus paid little attention to the blow. 
He only quietly said, "If I have spoken evil, 
bear witness of the evil; but if well, why 
smitest thou me?" 

They sought witnesses who would prove 
that Jesus had done something worthy of 
death, but they could prove nothing against 
Him. 

At last the High Priest arose and said, "I 
adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell 



THE TRIAL AND SENTENCE 153 

us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of 
God." 

All were silent, waiting for the answer. 
If He should say He was the Son of God they 
would condemn Him. They would have 
something for which to accuse Him before 
Pilate. Would He answer at all or would He 
refuse to make any reply as He had done to 
many of their questions? 

Jesus had never denied His mission in 
the world, or that God was His Father, and 
He would not now. He could pay no atten- 
tion to questions that were foolish, but He 
would not deny the truth; so He answered, 
"Thou hast said," which meant He was indeed 
the Son of God — the promised Savior of the 
world. 

Then the High Priest rent his robe as if 
to show his horror that Jesus should make 
Himself equal with God. "He hath spoken 
blasphemy," he said. "What further need have 
we of witnesses? Behold, now ye have heard 
His blasphemy. What think ye?" 

And they answered, "He is guilty of 
death" (Matt. 26:66). 

He was led away from the presence of 
the scribes and the elders until the morning 
should come. The soldiers and the mob 



154 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

treated Him shamefully. They blindfolded 
Him and spat in His face and struck Him with 
the palms of their hands, and told Him to tell 
them who it was that struck Him. 

With patience and in silence Jesus bore 
all this cruel treatment. Before He left 
heaven He knew what trials He would have, 
but He bore them in order that sinful men 
might be accepted of God. How He loved us. 
We should love with all our hearts God's Son 
who died to save us, and never give Him cause 
to grieve over any acts or words of ours. 

It was not lawful for the Jews to try a 
prisoner by night, but they had done so. Now 
there must be a formal trial by day. 

So in the early morning, when the day 
began to break, they led Jesus before His 
judges and pronounced the final sentence of 
death. 

The Jews were subject to the Romans at 
this time, and the Romans would not permit 
them to put anyone to death without the con- 
sent of the Roman governor. Pilate was the 
governor, and before him Jesus must appear. 

When Judas saw that Jesus was con- 
demned to death, he was sorry for the part he 
had taken in the arrest, and bringing back to 
the chief priest and elders the thirty pieces of 



THE TRIAL AND SENTENCE 155 

silver they had given him, he declared he had 
betrayed a man who was innocent. 

But they treated him coldly. They had 
paid him for his work of betrayal and now 
they were done with him. They said, "What 
is that to us? See thou to that." 

And Judas, filled with remorse, but not 
truly penitent, threw the pieces of silver down 
on the floor of the temple and went and 
hanged himself. Such is the awful result of 
sin. Satan rewards his followers just that 
way. 

Jesus was sent into the judgment hall of 
Pilate, but the Jews themselves would not go 
in, lest they should be defiled. 

He saw before him a man whose face bore 
not the slightest trace of crime. He must 
know why the Jews had brought Him. Going 
out to them, he said, "What accusation bring 
ye against this man?" (John 18:29). 

They answered, "We found this fellow 
perverting the nation and forbidding to give 
tribute to Caesar, saying that He Himself is 
Christ a king" (Luke 23:2). 

This was not true, for Jesus had once said 
to the Pharisees, when they tried to get Him 
to speak against Caesar, the emperor, "Ren- 



156 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

der therefore unto Caesar the things which 
are Caesar's" (Matt. 22:21). 

Pilate had probably heard about Jesus 
and he turned to Him and asked, "Art thou 
the King of the Jews?" And Jesus answered, 
"Thou sayest it." 

"And the chief priests accused Him of 
many things; but He answered nothing. Pi- 
late said to Him, Answerest thou nothing? 
behold how many things they witness against 
thee? But Jesus yet answered nothing; so 
that Pilate marveled" (Mark 15:3-4-5). 

He said to the chief priests and the peo- 
ple, "I find no fault in this man." 

When they heard Pilate say this they re- 
plied fiercely, "He stirreth up the people, 
teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning 
from Galilee to this place" (Luke 23:4-5). 

Pilate was anxious to take no part in this 
matter against Jesus, and when the people 
spoke of Galilee he had a hope that Jesus 
might live there, and, if He did, Herod would 
be the one to sentence Him. So he anxiously 
inquired if Jesus lived in Galilee. Learning 
that He was a Galilean, Pilate breathed easier 
and, dropping all responsibility, sent Him to 
Herod, who was in Jerusalem at that time. 

Herod had long wanted to see Jesus, for 



THE TRIAL AND SENTENCE 157 

he had heard much about Him, and he hoped 
to see Him do some of His miracles. But 
Jesus would never perform a miracle simply 
to gratify curiosity. He remained silent be- 
fore him, even when he asked Him many ques- 
tions, and when the chief priests and scribes 
strongly accused Him. 

"And Herod and his men of war set him 
at naught, and mocked him, and arrayed 
him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again 
to Pilate" (Luke 23:11). 

Pilate spoke to the accusers of Jesus and 
said, "Ye have brought this man unto me as 
one that perverteth the people: and, behold, 
I, having examined him before you, have 
found no fault in this man touching those 
things whereof ye accuse him : 

"No, nor yet Herod; for I sent you to 
him; and lo, nothing worthy of death is done 
unto him. 

"I will therefore chastise him and release 
him." 

It was the custom during the time of the 
feast for the governor to release any prisoner 
the Jews might desire released, so Pilate sug- 
gested releasing Jesus. 

Now, there was in the prison a man 
named Barabbas. He and his men had started 



158 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

some trouble in Jerusalem, and had killed 
some people who had tried to quiet them. 

The Jews thought of this prisoner, and 
they cried, "Away with this man and release 
unto us Barabbas" (Luke 23:18). 

Pilate said, "What will ye that I shall do 
unto him whom ye call the King of the 
Jews?" (Mark 15:12). 

And the people answered, "Crucify him, 
crucify him" (Luke 23:21). 

"And the governor said, Why, what evil 
hath He done? But they cried out the more, 
saying, Let him be crucified" (Matt. 27:23). 

While the elders and people were clam- 
oring to have Barabbas released and Jesus 
crucified, a messenger came to Pilate from 
his wife with this message: "Have nothing 
to do with that just man: for I have suffered 
many things this dav in a dream because 
of Him." 

Pilate believed He was innocent, too, and 
knew the people had taken Him through envy, 
but he feared the Jews would report him to 
Caesar, and he would lose the governorship 
if he did not consent to the wishes of the peo- 
ple, whom the scribes and elders had moved 
against Jesus. 

What a mistake Pilate made. Better for 



THE TRIAL AND SENTENCE 159 

us that we be true to Christ even though we 
lose our earthly positions and even our lives 
than that we refuse to defend Him and lose 
our souls. 

All his intentions of defending Jesus 
were gone when they said, "If thou let this 
man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whoso- 
ever maketh himself a king speaketh against 
Caesar." They did not love Caesar, but they 
hated Jesus. 

Pilate then brought forth God's Son, 
whom He had promised should be a Savior 
to the Jews, and Pilate said, "Behold your 
King." 

But in their hatred they cried, "Away 
with him, away with him, crucify him/' 
Pilate said, "Shall I crucify your King?" 
And the chief priest answered, "We have no 
king but Caesar." 

Seeing he could do nothing now, for the 
crowd was furious, Pilate took water and 
washed his hands before the multitude to 
show it was not his wish to have Jesus cruci- 
fied, and said, "I am innocent of the blood of 
this just person; see ye to it" (Matt. 27:24). 

All through the trial Pilate had tried to 
release Jesus, but his first mistake was in not 



160 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

acting firmly and promptly in what he be- 
lieved to be right. 

We must oppose the wrong firmly and at 
once. Jesus wants His people to be strong 
and full of courage. He wants to see them 
boldly denouncing what is wrong and bravely 
defending what is right. He wants real sol- 
diers in His army. 

When Pilate declared his own inno- 
cence, the people answered, "His blood be on 
us and on our children." 

Barabbas, the murderer, was released, 
and Jesus, the Son of God, was delivered into 
the hands of the soldiers to be crucified, for 
this was the desire of the Jews. 



THE CRUCIFIXION AND BURIAL 

The soldiers led the Savior into the common 
hall and the whole band of Roman soldiers 
gathered about Him. They put a purple robe 
upon His body, and a crown of thorns they 
put upon His head, and in His right hand 
they placed a reed to represent the scepter of 
a king. All this was done in mockery. They 
bowed the knee before Him and tauntingly 
said, "Hail, King of the Jews/ 9 

And they spit upon Him, and took the 
reed and smote Him on the head. Then they 
took off the robe and put on Him His own 
raiment, and led Him aw r ay to a place called 
Calvary, which was outside the walls of Je- 
rusalem. 

A great company of people followed as 
the soldiers led Him on, bearing His own 
cross to the place of crucifixion. The cross 
was too heavy for Him in His weakened con- 
dition, and they compelled Simon, a man 
whom they met, to carry it. 

Among this company were women weep- 
ing for Him, and, turning to them, He said, 
"Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, 

161 



162 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

but weep for yourselves and for your chil- 
dren" (Luke 23:28). 

Then He told them of the days that were 
coming, when great suffering and terror 
would come upon the people, and Jerusalem 
would be destroyed, and the Jewish people 
would be scattered because they had rejected 
their Savior, and, because of their distress, 
they would say to the mountains, "Fall on 
us;" and to the hills they would cry, "Cover 
us." 

We are told in the Bible there will be 
another time of suffering and terror to the 
ones who have rejected the Savior„ When He 
comes with the angels to earth again they will 
not be glad to see Him, but they will hide in 
dens and say to the mountains and rocks, 
"Fall on us, and hide us from the face of 
him that sitteth on the throne, and from the 
wrath of the Lamb" (Rev. 6:16). 

That will be a time of victory for Christ 
and His followers, but now He must suffer. 
Reaching the place of crucifixion, they laid 
the cross on the ground, and, placing Jesus 
upon it, stretched His arms out on the cross 
beam and drove nails through the palms of 
His hands into the wood. They fastened His 
feet with nails also. They lifted the cross 



CRUCIFIXION AND BUPxIAL 163 

and thrust the end of it into the pit they had 
dug for it. There the Lord would hang until 
He died, and, sitting down, the soldiers 
watched Him. 

Pilate had had placed over the head of 
the Savior these words: "Jesus of Nazareth, 
the King of the Jews," and they were written 
in Hebrew, and Greek and Latin. 

The chief priests said to Pilate, "Write 
not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I 
am King of the Jews." But Pilate would not 
change the words, and he said, "What I have 
written I have written." 

Laughing and wagging their heads, the 
people said, mockingly, "If thou be the Son 
of God, come down from the cross." "He 
saved others; Himself He cannot save." "If 
He be the King of Israel, let Him come down 
from the cross, and we will believe Him." 
"He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, 
if He will have Him: for He said, I am the 
Son of God. 95 

Two thieves were crucified with Him: 
one on either side. At first they joined with 
the elders, scribes, people and soldiers in mock- 
ing Jesus; but one of them, seeing He bore 
His suffering so patiently, and had even said, 
"Father, forgive them; for they know not 



164 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

what they do," believed He was indeed the 
Son of God. Rebuking the other thief for 
his taunts, he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember 
nje when thou comest into thy kingdom." 
And Jesus replied, "Today shalt thou be w r ith 
me in Paradise" (Luke 23:42-43). 

The morning wore away and the Son of 
God hung dying on the cross. At noon a 
dreadful darkness covered all that land, and 
lasted three whole hours. Then Jesus cried, 
"It is finished" (John 19:30). "Father, into 
thy hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 23: 
46) . And He bowed His head upon His breast 
and died. 

Then the earth shook terribly, and rocks 
were rent asunder, and many graves were 
opened, and in the temple in the city the veil 
that separated the hoty place from the most 
holy place was rent from top to bottom. 

"Now, when the centurion, and they that 
were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earth- 
quake, and those things that were done, they 
feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the 
Son of God" (Matt. 27:54). 

In the evening Joseph, who was a rich 
man of Arimathaea, and a member of the 
Sanhedrin, came to Pilate and asked for the 
body of Jesus that he might bury it. Calling 



CRUCIFIXION AND BURIAL 165 

the centurion to him, he asked if Jesus was 
dead yet. Being assured by the soldier that 
He was, Pilate gave permission to Joseph to 
bury the body. 

Nicodemus, the ruler who came to Jesus 
by night, brought a mixture of myrrh and 
cloves, and, as was the custom of the Jews, 
they wrapped the body with the spices in 
linen clothes ready for burial. 

In the place where Jesus was crucified 
was a garden, and in it there was a new sep- 
ulcher, which belonged to Joseph. There 
they tenderly placed the body, and, rolling a 
great stone across the entrance, departed. 

Mary Magdalene and other women were 
there and saw where the bodj^ of their Lord 
was laid. They could stay no longer, for it 
was getting late, and their Sabbath began at 
sunset, and on that day no work could be 
done. 

Now the chief priests and Pharisees 
came to Pilate and said they remembered 
that while Jesus w 7 as living He had declared 
that after three days He would rise again. 
They begged that the sepulcher might be 
guarded with Roman soldiers lest the disci- 
ples should come by night, and, stealing Him 
away, would say He had risen from the dead. 



166 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

So the governor gave them a guard, 
which was stationed at the tomb, and thev 
sealed the stone with a Roman seal. 



THE RESURRECTION 

Very early on the first day of the week, which 
was the third day after the crucifixion, 
Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of 
James, and Salome came to the tomb of Jesus 
with spices to anoint Him. As they walked 
along they were saying among themselves, 
"Who shall roll us away the stone from the 
door of the sepulcher?" (Mark 16:3). 

Rut when they reached the tomb, they 
found it had been rolled away, for the angel 
of the Lord descended from heaven and came 
and rolled back the stone from the door. 

Very early in the morning there had been 
a great earthquake, and the soldiers who were 
guarding the body of the Lord Jesus fell 
down as dead men when they saw the angel 
come from heaven, whose countenance was 
like lightning, and whose raiment was white 
as snow. 

The women entered the tomb and found 
not the body of Christ. They were greatly 
perplexed; and, while they were wondering 
because of the empty tomb, two men stood by 
them in shining garments. 

167 



168 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

Mary Magdalene had hastened back to 
Peter and John, and said, 'They have taken 
away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we 
know not where they have laid him" (John 
20:2). 

The women at the tomb were afraid and 
bowed their faces to the earth before the an- 
gels, but they said to the women, "Why seek 
ye the living among the dead?" 

"He is not here, but is risen: remember 
how he spake unto you when he was yet in 
Galilee. 

"Saying, The Son of man must be deliv- 
ered into the hands of sinful men, and be 
crucified, and the third daj^ rise again." 

And they remembered His words, and, 
trembling with fear and yet with hearts full of 
joy, they quickly left the sepulcher and re- 
turned to tell the disciples. 

When Mary Magdalene told the disciples 
that the body of Jesus had been taken away, 
Peter and John ran to the tomb to see for 
themselves, and, entering, found nothing but 
the linen clothes in which the body had been 
wrapped, and the napkin which had been 
about His face. 

They now believed, like Mary Magdalene, 
that some one had taken the body, but they 



HE IS NOT HERE, BUT IS RISEN 



THE RESURRECTION 171 

did not understand that He had risen from 
the dead. 

They went away, but she could not leave 
just yet. She could not bear to go not know- 
ing where the body of the Lord was lying. 
She stood by the sepulcher weeping, and, as 
she wept, she stooped down and looked in. 
She saw two angels in white; one sitting at 
the head and the other at the feet, where the 
body of Jesus had lain. 

And they said to her, "Woman, why 
weepest thou?" And she said to them, "Be- 
cause they have taken away my Lord, and I 
know not where they have laid him.' 

As she said this, she turned around and 
saw Jesus standing by her side, but she 
thought He was the gardener; and, believing 
he would know where they had carried the 
body of Jesus, she said to him, after he had 
asked her why she wept and whom she sought, 
"Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me 
where thou hast laid him, and I will take him 
away." 

But, instead of the gardener answering 
as she expected, the sweet, gentle voice of 
Jesus fell upon her ears, sa3ing, "Mary." 

She recognized Him now, and, hastily 
brushing away her tears, reached out her 



172 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

arms toward Him as she joyfully cried, 
"Rabboni" (Master). 

"Jesus said unto her, Touch me not; for 
I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go 
to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend 
unto my Father and your Father; and to my 
God and to your God" (John 20:17). 

This was the first time Jesus had ap- 
peared to anyone since He rose from the 
dead. He next appeared to the other women 
as they were hurrying on to tell the disci- 
pies what the angels had said, and w r hat they 
had seen at the tomb. 

As He met them, He said, "All hail! And 
they came and held Him by the feet, and wor- 
shipped Him." 

And He said, "Be not afraid: go tell my 
brethren that they go into Galilee, and there 
shall they see me" (Matt. 28:9, 10). 

Late in the afternoon of the same day, 
two disciples were on their way to Emmaus; 
a village which was about eight miles from 
Jerusalem. As they walked along, they were 
very sad as they talked about all the things 
that had lately happened. 

Someone drew near and walked with 
them, and asked them what they were talk- 
ing about, and why they looked so sad. 



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THE RESURRECTION 175 

They were surprised that anyone should 
not have heard about the things that had 
lately been happening in and near Jerusalem. 

"What things?' 9 He asked them. 

"Concerning Jesus of Nazareth," they an- 
swered, "which was a prophet mighty in deed 
and word before God and all the people." 

"And how the chief priests and our rulers 
delivered Him to be condemned to death, and 
have crucified Him" (Luke 24:19-20), 

And certain women, they told Him, had 
surprised them by saying they had gone early 
in the morning to the tomb and His body was 
not there, and the angels they saw told them 
He was alive. 

The One walking with them asked them 
if Jesus did not come to the earth to die? If 
that was not God's plan to save the people? 
And did not the prophets tell that all this 
should happen? Then He told them what, the 
Bible said should be done to Jesus the Lamb 
of God. 

When they reached the village they asked 
this stranger to stay with them, for it was get- 
ting late. He accepted their invitation, and, 
while sitting at the table, He took the bread 
and thanked God for it, and broke it, and gave 
it to them. 



176 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

When He did this they looked at Him, 

and now knew what they did not know be- 
fore that this stranger who had walked and 
talked with them along the road was Jesus. 
And, as soon as they knew Him, "He vanished 
out of their sight" 

Joy now took the place of sadness in the 
hearts of these two disciples, and they hast- 
ened back to Jerusalem to tell the other dis- 
couraged ones that they had seen the risen 
Savior. 

They found them in a room with the 
doors closed, for fear of the Jews, and as they 
told them about walking with the Lord, and 
about His breaking of bread, Jesus Himself 
stood in the midst of them and said, "Peace 
be unto you." 

They were greatly frightened at first, but 
He showed them His hands and His feet, and 
ate before them, and their fear was gone, 
their doubts had vanished, and they knew it 
was the Lord. 

Thomas was not with them. He would 
not believe that Jesus had risen, but the next 
Sunday evening, just a week later, as the dis- 
ciples were again gathered in the room be- 
hind closed doors, Jesus stood before them, 
and again said, "Peace be unto you." 



THE RESURRECTION 177 

He spoke to Thomas and showed him 
His hands, and His wounded side, where the 
soldier had thrust his spear as He hung on 
the cross, and He told Thomas not to be faith- 
less, but to be believing. 

And Thomas was convinced that it was 
Jesus who stood before him, and he said. 
"My Lord and my God" (John 20:28). 

Jesus said, "Thomas, because thou hast 
seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they 
that have not seen, and yet have believed." 
That is the blessing for us. We do not see the 
Savior as they did, but we believe without see- 
ing and that is faith. 



THE ASCENSION 



Mr 4 



^ 5 



The sufferings of Jesus were over. His work 
was done. He had made a way for every 
soul ever born into the world to get back to 
God. God would now accept us because Jesus 
had died for the sins of the whole world. He 
has done His part to save us. We must do 
our part if we would be saved. 

We must confess our sins to Him and 
then believe that He forgives us. We must 
refuse to do or say things that we know are 
not pleasing to Him. We must ask Him to 
guide us and keep us true when temptations 
come. We must have nothing to do with evil 
things. We must obey Him always. 

While Jesus was on the earth there were 
things He must do in order to save us, so in 
our lives there are things we must do in order 
to be saved. 

Jesus was soon to go back to heaven. He 
chose the Mount of Olives as the place of His 
ascension, and, with the eleven, He went to 
this mountain. They did not know this would 
be the last time they would see Him on earth. 

While on the way He told them many 
178 



— ' — • 



the ascension 



171) 



tilings: He said, "Behold, I send the promise 
of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the 
city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with 
power from on high" (Luke 24:49). 

After they had received the holiness i\nd 
power that results from the baptism with the 
Holy Ghost, they were to go into all the world 
and "preach the Gospel to every creature" 
(Mark 16:15). 

"Teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I have commanded 3^011: and lo," 
said Jesus, "I am with you alway, even unto 
the end of the world" (Matt. 28:20). 

These commandments are for us the 
same as for the disciples of old, and this 
promise He has given is dear to the heart of 
every true follower of Jesus. 

He led them out as far as Bethany, and, 
while lifting up His hands to bless them, He 
slowty ascended from among them. The 
amazed disciples gazed upward as He rose 
higher and higher until a cloud received Him 
out of their sight. "And they worshipped 
Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great 
joy" (Luke 24:52). 

Jesus is coming again. We do not know 
when, but in God's own appointed time He 
will come. Not again as a babe to a humble 



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180 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

home will He quietly come, but with power 
and great glory will He appear. He will come 
in a cloud and a multitude of shining angels 
will be with Him. 

It will be a time of judgment and many 
will not be glad to see Him because they are 
not ready to meet Him. Having clung to their 
sins and rejected salvation, they will be 
afraid. Then will be the time they will cry 
for the mountains and rocks to fall on them 
and hide them "from the face of him that 
sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of 
the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is 
come." 

But the ones who have been true will 
have no fear. He is coming to honor them 
who have loved Him and they shall reign 
with Him forever and ever. They will dwell 
in that beautiful city where there need be no 
sun or moon, to shine in it: "for the glory of 
God will lighten it, and the Lamb is the Light 
thereof." 

"And the gates of it shall not be shut at 
all by day; for there shall be no night there/' 

"And God shall wipe away all tears from 
our eyes; and there shall be no more death, 
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall 
there be any more pain" (Rev. 21:4). 



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THIS SAME JESUS, WHICH IS TAKEN UP FROM 

YOU INTO HEAVEN, SHALL SO COME IN 

LIKE MANNER AS YE HAVE SEEN 

HIM GO INTO HEAVEN 

ACTS 1:11 



THE ASCENSION 183 

Yes, Jesus is coming again. May we all 
be ready to meet Him with joy, and with all 
the redeemed of earth, praise Him forever, 
and ever, and ever. 



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I STAND AT THE DOOR 



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"BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND 

KNOCK" 

You, my dear young readers, who have closely 
followed me through the earthly life of our 
Savior, have doubtless realized more than ever 
before the goodness and faithfulness of God, 
the love of Jesus, and the work of the Holy 
Spirit. 

You have seen how God fulfilled His 
promise and sent His Son Jesus into the world 
to die for us because He loved the people He 
had created and wanted every one of us to 
turn away from sin and Satan and choosing 
to follow Jesus, get back to our Creator from 
whom we had wandered. 

You have seen also how willing the Son 
of God was to leave His Father and the holv 
angels and come and dwell among sinful peo- 
ple that we might, through His life and death 
and resurrection, be obedient to God and have 
an everlasting home in heaven. 

No doubt the Holy Spirit who teaches us 
the things of God has made you see more 
clearly the deceitf ulness of Satan, and that a 
life spent in following him can only mean in 

185 



186 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

this world an unhappy ending, and in the 
world to come punishment and sorrow and 
suffering which has no end. How, then, can 
any wise young reader choose to follow him? 

To every one there comes a time to choose 
a leader. This time comes to us when we are 
very young. Just as soon as we begin to know 
what is right and what is wrong, then the time 
has come for us to choose. 

We must have a leader. You may think 
you have not chosen one, but you have. If 
you are doing the things that are wrong, then 
Satan is your leader, and you know where he 
will lead you. If you are doing the things 
that are right, then Jesus is leading you. 

We may choose only one leader. It is 
folly to think you can follow Satan today and 
follow Jesus tomorrow; to think you can fol- 
low Satan through the week and Jesus on 
Sunday. No, my dear child, 3>ou cannot do 
that. No brave, true soldier does that way. 
He chooses the one he thinks is right and fol- 
lows him at all times, wherever he may lead. 

So, in that way Jesus wants us to follow 
Him. Choosing Him once and for all time, 
and being true to Him to the end. Overcoming 
the sins of the world because He was able to 



"I STAND AT THE DOOR" 187 

overcome them and receiving our reward at 
His hands. 

Jesus said, "To him that overcometh will 
I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I 
also overcame, and am set down with my 
Father in His throne." 

He does not intend that Satan shall over- 
come us, but by accepting Jesus we shall over- 
come Satan. How tenderly He pleads for us 
to accept Him as our leader and Savior. 

He knows there is no other way for us to 
be saved, and He stands at the door of each 
heart and knocks, hoping we may open the 
door and let Him come in. 

He wants us to choose Him. He wants 
us to invite Him to come in. He never forces 
His way into any heart, but He just patiently 
stands and knocks, waiting for the owner of 
that heart to open the door and bid Him come 
in and abide forever. 

How can any heart refuse to accept this 
loving Savior? How can any one hear His 
gentle knock upon the door of their heart 
and refuse to open it? He has said: 

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; 
if any man hear my voice, and open the door, 
I will come in to him, and will sup with him, 
and he with me." 



188 JESUS OF NAZARETH 

I pray that you may hear the voice of 
Jesus calling you, and that you may remem- 
ber and obey your Creator in the days of your 
youth. 

I pray that before you close this book you 
may choose the Savior to lead you through 
this world of sin and on up through the gates 
of pearl into the city of God and up to the 
great white throne, where He says you may 
sit with Him. 



